On Being A Freshmen

I should just do something without committing to it, long-term because then I never get it done.

Hi everyone! Today we will take a brief pause in the series I started and never continued!

I moved in around the third week of August, and boy what a wild ride it has been. I am very close to being done with my first semester, and I have so much to say.

For those of you who don’t know, I am currently attending Notre Dame. It is definitely not where I thought I would end up, but it sure is where I was supposed to be. I wish I could say I was excited all summer long about Notre Dame. But I was filled with dread and anguish more often than excitement. I almost convinced myself to de-commit and just go to my state school. It was rough. Move-in was an adventure and a half. I found out that my “random roommate” happened to be from Kentucky, and that we had a mutual friend! How cool is that?! I have had an interesting journey so far, and I am going to try to give you vignettes of my different experiences.

ROOMMATES

I was so anxious about how the rooming situation would be. I have 3 roomies, and 1 direct roomie and I adore them all to death. My roommate, Meg, is literally the best, and it made the college adjustment much more easier.

FRIENDS

I had a rough few weeks. I honestly thought oh my gosh I’m literally never gonna make friends. I was three weeks in, and it felt like everyone had their own group, and I was so lonely. I had watched a bunch of videos that had warned all the fresh eyed freshmen not to be worried about not making lifelong friends immediately. I felt like I had understood and come to terms with that. However, it is a much different experience to be in the trenches of this challenging transition, far from the support system you know, and not have anyone to lean in to. It’s been four months, and I have found such a good group of friends, ever expanding and ever growing, and all I needed to be was patient.

GOD

My faith and relationship with God was something that I was deeply anxious about coming into college. I did not want to become distant. The first weeks I felt particularly close to God especially in my loneliness and in experiencing this very unsteady and shaky time period, It felt so good to have an anchor. I also took the initiative and enrolled in spiritual coaching/counseling. I was very hesitant and so unsure about it because I am very much not Catholic, and very Pentecostal leaning. It’s been so good. I love my spiritual coach, and it has just made me so accountable. I have learned to just walk with God in the day to day mundane. It’s so crazy how much closer I have gotten to God when I thought I would be so distant.

FOOTBALL

Y’all I cant even believe this is a section in my blog. If you know me, you’re probably so shocked that this is even on my radar. But its something about the Notre Dame air, you cant resist being a football fan. I also have been incentivized to be a fan by our quarterback (who I recently learned is taken* heart breaks*). Anyways, something about home games is electric, and honestly my break from the homework. I also happen to have something brewing with a certain…actually let me stop this sentence right here.

BOOKS

It wouldn’t be fair to leave without saying that although I’m a STEM major, and I take 90% STEM classes. I have not forsaken my first love. I take an autobiography class, where we read a book each week, and write a paper with our thoughts. This is the perfect class for me, because I never stop talking or reading. It’s my absolute favorite class! Recently, we read a book that dethroned my favorite book of 8 years! It was called Tattoos on the Heart, and If I described all the things I loved about it, we would be here all day.

MEN

I have a crush.

I have so much to say but this will have to be enough for now! See you all when I remember again!