My First Week at Ohio State

My first week at OSU has been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster. I arrived early, on the 16th, as part of the Morrill Scholars’ Early Arrival Program. I spent the day with my parents and sister, hauling my things up to my stifling-hot dorm, frantically making CVS runs for the miscellanies I forgot, trying to figure out how to navigate campus. I was excited for them to leave, and excited to begin my college journey. Once they finally did leave, though – at 9 PM – my room suddenly seemed too quiet. Everything was too different. I didn’t sleep that first night, lying miserably awake and suddenly, bizarrely homesick.

The homesickness lasted longer than I would’ve liked it to. I tend to be incredibly averse to change, and this was the biggest one I’d faced so far. But then I started forcing myself to get out of my dorm, to go to the awkward icebreaker activities, to talk to people I didn’t know. I rekindled old friendships with people I knew in high school who now go to Ohio State. I started feeling a little less alone and overwhelmed.

Classes started and then I became almost too busy to think about being homesick. I formed a routine and learned how to make my way around campus. I found peaceful study spots and interesting things to do. While I’m still homesick, the difference a week made has been tremendous, and college seems a little more manageable every day. I’ve already had incredible new experiences and met people the likes of whom I would not have run into had I stayed in my home town. I can already tell the next four years will be a tumultuous ride, but I know it’ll be worth it.

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