My first semester at OSU has gone much better than I expected it to. I have made some really close friends which came as a bit of a surprise to me because I usually have trouble socializing. I have made changes to my major that I am extremely happy about and look forward to pursuing over the next for years. I have become involved in a few clubs on campus that I enjoy and I love Columbus! Academically, at first I kept up with my classes easily but as the semester went on they became much more difficult, which I guess is to expected. Overall, I think that I have been doing well in school and more importantly I have learned a lot from my classes and the experiences I have had so far.

One of my favorite classes this semester is my Theatre 2100 class. I loved theatre in high school and was so excited to take this class. The plays we read over the past semester have all had an impact on me and I enjoyed analyzing them. I also loved all of the creative projects we did from costume renderings to essays to writing scenes and designing lighting and sound! I am taking another theatre class next semester and look forward to staying involved in OSU theatre in the future!

The friends I have made this semester are the most important thing that has happened. I was so nervous coming to OSU and not knowing anyone, but I bonded with the people in my wing immediately. I feel so lucky to have found an amazing group of friends so quickly because I know people who are still struggling with that. I am extremely grateful for the amazing people who have come into my life this semester and the amazing opportunities that OSU has given me!

I want to work out more, but I always have something I’d rather be or should be doing.

I want to write more, but I work on school a lot.

I want to meet more people, but I get really nervous around strangers.

I want to go to bed earlier on weekdays, but I like to stay up with my floor mates.

I want to go out into the city more, but I don’t want to go alone.

I want to work out more and I always have something I’d rather be or should be doing, so I need to prioritize my goals more.

I want to write more and I work on school a lot, so I need to set small amounts of time aside each week between studying to write.

I want to meet more people and I get really nervous around strangers, so I need to ask some of the people I am comfortable around to come with me when I want to meet a new person.

I want to go to bed earlier on weekdays and I like to stay up with my floor mates, so I need to make sure I only stay up on nights when I don’t have early classes or work the next day.

I want to go into the city more and I don’t want to go alone, so I need to ask around and see who wants to explore Columbus with me.

“I don’t really know how helpful I am on a large scale, but that’s okay because I know that I’m helping on a small one.”

I met Emily in the South Oval when she asked me if I could take a quick survey, I agreed as long as she let me use her for my Humans of OSU project. In three sentences, Emily described her story as growing up in Texas, moving to Ohio, and becoming a missionary. Next I asked about her current goals and aspirations, she responded that her most important concern at the moment was how she would be able to balance work and being a mother once she has her first child. She loves her work and is extremely dedicated to it, so I asked if there was a specific moment when she knew that this was what she wanted to do. In response to this, she told me the story of when she first moved to Ohio and started working at a homeless shelter for newly arrived immigrants. She said that this completely changed her view of what she wanted out of life and inspired her to dedicate her life to helping people in need. Since then she has worked with a large apparatus of volunteer and Christian organizations geared towards helping impoverished people and communities.

The night before move-in day I cried my eyes out. I was terrified to come to OSU. I worried about not making any friends, having issues with my roommate, being overwhelmed with classes, and most of all not being able to sleep at night. On move-in day, I made my family stay on campus until they absolutely had to go home, around 7pm, because I was so afraid of being left alone here. The first few days were really hard for me. I have a lot of social anxiety and hated being surrounded by people I didn’t know, yet was expected to stay out all day and night with. I cried on the phone with my mom for three days, and then on the fourth I didn’t cry, I felt alright that day. As I soon discovered, each day got better. I went from being certain that I would not survive on Monday, to thinking I would live but be extremely unhappy on Tuesday, then deciding it would be a satisfactory year on Wednesday, and by Friday realizing that it would be a great year. To my own surprise I have actually made a good amount of friends that I feel genuinely close to, the feeling reminds me of when I first met my best friends from home four years ago. The day that really turned my perspective around was Buck-i-Frenzy, and not because of the freebies. I had been depressed and full of anxiety all morning at convocation and just wanted to call home, but I went to Frenzy with a group of people I had just met that day and for the first time I was actually relaxed and acting the way I would have around my friends. After that I opened up more to the people surrounding me, we were all in the same boat after all.

Going to classes, however, was a different beast I had to conquer. The first class I had was my Math 1150 Recitation. My RA is quirky and fun, and I enjoy watching him teach twice a week (even if he does tend to make mistakes on the board). I love my Global Public Health class and it has reassured me on my choice of major. Every day I enter that class and we talk about something utterly fascinating that constantly calls into question your views on education, health, and culture. Sociology, however, has not yet captured me. Maybe it will eventually, but, so far, it’s amiss. My theatre class is my favorite! Every lecture I have enjoyed, even the one on Greek tragedies. Every reading (and there are a lot more readings than you would think) has completely stolen my attention. I love reading and analysis and am so excited for the plays we are reading this semester! And, of course, I love my humanities seminar. It’s nice to have a class in which I could actually name most the people in the room and in which I also knew I would be taken care of because of the community the Humanities Scholars has given me.

On the far more interesting social aspect of my new college life, like I mentioned before, I’m faring far better than I expected. I have gotten involved with the Pride group on campus, the Alpha Psi Omega theatre fraternity, and the ENCompass volunteer organization. I had a great time and met some amazing people at the first Pride meeting of the year. In fact the Pride meeting was the turning point when I really felt like I was going to have a great year as oppose to an adequate one. I almost didn’t go to the APO meeting, I am so glad that I did. I always regretted not getting involved in theatre earlier than I did in high school and I promised myself that I wouldn’t make that same mistake in college. It’s hard to believe that I almost did, but I am officially a member now and am looking forward to working on the performances this semester and in the future. Aside from school regulated events, I have actually managed to find friends to go out with. We’ve already stayed up all night sharing stories (both fun and emotional), wandered aimlessly looking for a party (ending up at insomnia cookies instead), and made numerous rather interesting plans for the future of this dorm.

But, aside from all of this I have also found a lot of time to be alone and come to terms with this new chapter in my life. I read by Mirror Lake everyday and it’s usually my favorite part of each day. I find time to wander aimlessly around campus, getting lost in my music and have found some great spots to work on my writing. I have also somehow managed to find time to add yet another TV show to my binge watching, but that’s a different story. Overall, I would say my first week at OSU, regardless of nothing really all that exciting happening, has been one of the worst and greatest I have ever had.