Friday, September 26, 2008

One down...

The first week of classes at Stanford is almost done! And boy, has it been a long week! It took me until about Thursday to actually get my classes all figured out and get my schedule made, but I think I've got everything sorted out now! I'm in the "Journeys" IHUM with Tobias Wolff with two lectures and two sections every week. I'm also taking calculus 41 with three lectures and two sections per week. My hardest class this quarter will probably end up being Comm 162: Analysis of Presidential Campaigns. As far as I know, I'm the only freshman in the class and there is one sophomore and the rest are upperclassmen and grad students! The lectures are really interesting - so far, at least! - but they run from 9:00 - 10:50 on Monday and Wednesday mornings, ick! And that's pretty much it as far as classes go...

The only other thing of any real significance is that I've started crew workouts! As of right now I'm just working out in the walk-on/try-out class from 12-1 every day, but I'm hoping to be on the water Tuesday! After the first day I had some crazy blisters on my hands, but they're getting better already, yay!
The team BBQ is this afternoon as soon as the girls get out of the water at the boathouse, so I can't wait!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Physical...

I'll just start this off by saying that Stanford takes care of its athletes...

The women's crew team had our NCAA compliance meeting Friday and I am through all the formalities of being on a D1 TEAM! We have our own gyms and doctors and massage therapists and all kinds of stuff, not to mention being sponsored by Nike! The sports medicine center is incredible, and we're encouraged to go there any time we have any problems, even if they're not sports-related!

Also, we had our team physical this morning as a part of the mass physicals for all the sports teams not already in session. Our team's appointment was for 10:45, so Mikayla and I and most of the team were there around 10:30...we didn't get in the doors until after 12:00! Once we got inside we had to fill out all kinds of paperwork, then in the next gym we had our height, weight, and blood pressure checked, then we moved into another gym and had our vision checked. After that we went downstairs and had our body fat percentage checked and had an EKG. Next everyone was looked at individually by an orthopedic doctor (and my knee was cleared! Mikayla has to do PT with the team doctor though...) then I had a heart echo done (I actually got to see my heart!), and then I met with a medical doctor to talk about my medical history. Yay, cleared for everything! And it only took until 2:30 in the afternoon! haha.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Roble Love!

I love Stanford! My dorm is called Roble (Oak Tree in Spanish, fitting I know!). I'm in the "C" wing on second floor in a quad with three amazing girls! Roble is the largest, oldest, and BEST dorm on campus with around 300 students, 160 of whom are freshmen.

My roommate is Nina from Hermosa Beach, California, a cute, short, Asian that is SO much fun! The other two suitemates are Nicole from Sweden and Mikayla from upstate New York. Nicole has all the boys chasing her, being the tall, thin, European and all. Mikayla and I are becoming fast friends, bonding over our shared gym-ratness.

Speaking of Mikayla and I being gym rats, we sat down with a couple of the crew coaches today and basically walked on to the team already! We are going to the team NCAA compliance meeting Friday and the physical Sunday and possibly the teambuilding trip Saturday...and none of the other walk ons will know anything til Monday and/or Tuesday! I can't wait! I'm getting so pumped now, and having Mikayla to share in the fun, frustration, excitement, and pain will make everything so much better!

I love it here! I'm so excited to meet with my advisor Friday to plan out my schedule and get going with this year, it's going to be great! I have one class and an already color-coded planner, so I'm well on my way! Our suitemate shopping excursion is going to be Saturday before the football game, so after that we will really be ready to start school!

Airport thoughts...

Right now I’m sitting at my gate in the Denver airport and finally have a little time to think and digest the past few days and the ones to come.

It seems like each of the past few days has held a difficult goodbye: Saturday to Chelsea after spending the evening together at the races; Sunday to Mom, Jay, and Tori after having lived with them all summer; Monday to my high school teachers and coaches, Grandma Rist, and Ali; and this morning to my dad. One would think that I’d be getting better at this with each goodbye, but every one is still heart wrenching. I’ve always been very independent, but it’s hard for me to comprehend right now that I won’t see any of these people again until, most likely, December.

On the packing front, well, I’m done! Or at least I think I am…I have boxes packed up at both my mom’s house and my dad’s house ready to be shipped to me after I arrive, but I still feel like I’m missing something. I also have some shopping to do when I get settled in - and not the fun kind of shopping! A bicycle, refrigerator, and groceries…not quite the most exciting shopping list for my first few days in a new city, but I guess I’ll adjust J

Even through all the complaining and anxiety, I can’t wait to get to campus! Moving in to my dorm room, meeting my roommates, seeing Nathaniel and my other Stanford friends, meeting new people, and starting this adventure are all just a few hours away from me now!

Before I actually get to school, I just want to thank all my friends and family for everything this summer in preparing for this transition. Also, to my new(er) friends, it has been so great getting to know you and hanging out with you this summer and I miss you all so much!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Packing and saying goodbye

It's almost time to leave! I finished work Wednesday night and have spent the past few days attempting to pack and trying to spend time with friends one last time before leaving.

Packing normally comes easily for me; I make a list, pack from it, and that's it. This time it's not quite working out so well...I've been packing since Wednesday and have one bag and three boxes done, and baskets and baskets of "stuff" still sitting around.

Starting NSO and school so late has given me the chance to work a little more and to spend more time with my high school friends. Everyone I graduated with is already in school and I have only seen them a little bit, but I've spent time with friends from West Central pretty much every day. We even went out for a "girls night" Monday night, two football games yesterday, and are going to the races at Huset's tonight.

I can't wait to get to school, but it's really starting to kick in how much I'm going to miss this.

I will miss home, and my family and friends so much, but soon it will start to feel like home and I will make new friends who will become like family to me......but I will always miss the ones back home.