College Classes Are SO College

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Yesterday, everyone in our quaint little Urbanest home woke up with the familiar giddiness we had felt every September for the last 12 years- the first day of school. Only this was no longer just "school". I was not walking through the halls of WHS any more, nor would I ever again. I wasn't going somewhere where I was counting on seeing all of my lifelong friends and teachers from last year in the halls. I wasn't in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.

Ok. That was dramatic, but relevant! Not only was I walking into a class on a campus that I had only been on once or twice before, but I was also in a different country! Overwhelming, yet incredibly exciting. I was so ready and at the same time, so afraid of what to expect. Here I am, in Australia, living on my own and starting college? How? I still feel and look like I am 12.

Our site leads organized a little "first day of school" breakfast for us, with muffins and bagels. After nervously munching on a chocolate chip muffin, my friends and I left in a close huddle (as girls always travel in packs) and set off for campus together. We gave ourselves around 2 hours of extra time before classes, to accommodate our search for the right buildings and getting our student cards. We unexpectedly god caught up in ODay, which is the University's club festival where new students can sign up for groups and clubs for the coming semester. After fighting our way through the crowds and finally getting our student cards, we were now faced with the task of finding the right building. It took some hunting and a little help from USyd's "Lost On Campus" app, but we eventually got to class- on time too!

My first college class was Australian Theatre, Film and Learning. The professor spoke with a pretty strong Australian accent, but he seems very nice and approachable. The entire course was laid out for us, broken down week by week, with summaries of what we would be doing and the movies, plays or shows we would be analyzing. It seems interesting enough, plus we get to analyze The Great Gatsby (my favorite!).

By the time the two hour lecture was over and done with, I was so hungry that I was actually day dreaming about the cup of ramen noodles that I had in my cabinet at the apartment (I think craving ramen noodles qualifies as a sign of near starvation). After a quick lunch of ramen and a very short hour of down time, it was back to campus for the second lecture of the day, Intro to Sociology 2.

Now, I never took Sociology 1, so I'm really not sure how I, along with many other kids from my trip, landed ourselves in this class but we did. I left the apartment with one of my friends with about 20 minutes until class. Using the Lost on Campus map, I actually found myself getting very, very lost on campus. Not only did we enter campus from an entrance on the opposite side of campus from the direction in which we needed to head, but I was also viewing my map from the wrong side, which led us even further in the wrong direction. We found ourselves in the dead center of the main campus, near the Great Hall (it looks like Hogwarts, so cool). Where I actually needed to be was about a mile and a half to the left, across the street, and waaaay in the back. After a super exhausting run/power walk to class, my friend and I found the Abercrombie building where our lecture was being held. Ok, so room B2010. 2 means second floor, or so we thought, so up we went (in the elevator because we were exhausted from our marathon) and we found 2010 with a class being held inside, but not a single familiar face. We knew we had friends in this class, so we panicked and finally asked our friends where they hell they were. Apparently, the B in B2010 means BASEMENT. So, just like the stereotypical freshmen, we flung ourselves down a few flights of stairs, accidentally decked a few unsuspecting non-freshmen, and finally found our lecture hall- still late.

This lecture class embodied everything I had ever feared about college into its hour-long allotted time slot. We walked in late, wandered around looking for a seat in this vast, steep lecture hall (because everyone sits on the end seats and it is impossible to join them in the middle of their row without causing a ruckus). The professor had already begun, and she dove head first into big PowerPoint presentations of notes, due dates, definitions, assignments, readings, homework... oh, and a mandatory $115 textbook. There goes my groceries for two and a half weeks.

Kidding. After that felt like the lecture from hell, designed to scare off any and all freshmen not willing to sign their soul away to this professor, I actually managed to go grocery shopping. As of then, I had 2 protein bars, some milk, some cheese and one cup of instant noodles left. It was either food shop or starve. I think I came home with equal parts groceries and wine, but the wine was cheap so who's complaining? I also bought some laundry detergent. Not sure what to do with it, it is currently perched on my shelf and intimidatingly watching me. I hope it comes with instructions or something because being capable of doing laundry is not on my resume. Oops.

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