First Day at Columbia

So as you guys must have seen, I posted three videos: Arriving in New York, After Brunch in the Trump Towers, and First Night at Columbia. For this post, I'd like to elaborate on my experience during the first day at Columbia.

Before we checked in, Cristina and I were very much uncomfortable with the possibility of being late. Thankfully, not only did we get in just in time, but it didn't seem like the time restraint was really much of a restraint. Julie is in another hall, of which I forgot the name, while Jessica, Sofia, Cristina, and I are all in Hartley Hall. However, each of us are in different suites. We were all slightly disappointed at first at not being quite together, but I think we are all having a wonderful time meeting new people.

After Mrs. Lilhanand took us to the bookstore for souvenirs, we went back to the dorms to meet with our RAs and suitemembers. When I got back to my suite, the ones present ended up gathering in the common room just to talk. Soon, many of our other suitemates joined in the conversation. We learned everyone's names, what year in school we would enter, what we were studying this summer, where we were from, and so on. In my suite, I have suitemates from San Francisco, Chicago, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut -- as well as London, Puerto Rico, Spain, Turkey, and Poland. I'm missing some of the girls, but I'll find out later. Most of us will be entering our senior year in the upcoming school year, but there are a few juniors, and one sophomore.

At the BBQ, suite/corridor -mates were supposed to bond over dinner, I believe, but the tables couldn't accomodate as many as say, 13 people. Our suite split up, but our table also got two others -- a boy from Chicago, and another boy from Greece.

After dinner, the different groups went their own ways, and the RAs explained a bunch of official stuff to us like rules, times, contact info, etc. And after that, our suite and one of the boy groups went off to a lawn by the Library, and played a couple games. Of the boys, we met a few others from Europe and someone from Ghana. I didn't personally meet everyone, so I don't know from what other countries the others may be from. It was during this time that the international aspect of this program really hit me. It is absolutely incredible to be meeting people from literally everywhere, and I expect I will be meeting even more foreign students.

A few of us went out for ice cream afterwards, and when we returned we started to really settle in. At one point, about 6 of us were actually just hanging out in one girl's room, finding each other online and getting contact information and whatnot. I'm amazed at and so glad for developing these friendships so quickly. Many of us are really sociable, and it's been quite easy getting to know everyone. Plus, the RAs are doing such a great job, and they are such a help to us. We already have plans for dinner tomorrow night, July 4th, and other stuff as well. I'm sure this will be an exciting three weeks with these people.