Settled In!

Please take a look at the Dartmouth blog later on as I had technical difficulties that day and it is taking time for me to complete and finish. It will most likely be my longest blog because of my sincere love for the school. I promise to do my best to showcase my intense feelings for the school. When the Dartmouth blog is perfected, the "in progress" phrase will be deleted and I will also indicate it in the titles of the most recent blog! It will be a good read, I promise!

The Brown Bear

It was really nice to finally settle into my new dorm as of now as I was able to understand how I can be a part of a larger community residential faraway from home. This isn't a problem that doesn't hone on similar objectives and experiences but it draws from students all over the country and the world! My roommate is Hugh, who is from New York City, and he is actually TA'ing a course that he took as a rising junior. I am looking forward to the experiences I will be getting and it is quite unbelievable when you actually contemplate the matter; I tend to live in the moment more often and I guess that I will appreciate what I have experienced in the future.

We departed from our hotel at around 9 in the morning where he had to haul all of our luggage to the taxi. Jack and I were in this taxi with someone that I surprisingly couldn't understand very well due t his strong accent - feeling bad since it took me a while for me to understand that he included tip wile giving him money and expecting change. We were then dropped off and proceeded over to check-in. Luckily, it didn't seem to correlate with the hectic move-in days that you often hear at different colleges. We then proceeded through a queue to get the relevant information needed. We then went to our dorms and left our belongings. It was also required to do a review or a description of the dorm room and what I feared didn't see to exist in my dorm building was that of peeling paint, degrading tables, and other components that I heard horror stories about. My room didn't come with a bathroom, just a double with two desks, two beds (twin XL), and two closets.  At that time, my roommate didn't arrive at the time.

I later met up with the cohort to interject on a tour around the campus which was extremely short and then after that, we went to Thayer Street to have some hearty Greek food. I am totally a fan of Greek sandwiches so I was tempted by the lamb soulvaki. I think I may have regretted my decision as I saw Jing piling herself with tons of fabulous slices of meat! Thayer Street seems to have a lot of similarity with Telegraph Avenue back home but I do not think Thayer is as quirky and odd, but rather that the buildings have shown their age. The food was delectable and I also had a petit Greek coffee where it was almost like espresso.  It wasn't raw espresso like you would get in authentic Italian restaurants but a wholesome, strong coffee that was to die for. What shocked me the most was doing toasts with the cohort where two extra people other than Alana proposed toasts about the ideals and the morals that we should live by while residing at Brown for three weeks and to of course do these two things: have fun and try new things. I believe this is the time to take advantage of such matters and that such opportunities when you are younger are hard to come by, even if you do attend similar programs as Brown's Pre-College Program is just so unique in how laissez-faire it is.

I then later socialized with my floor mates after the orientation where we were told important safety information as well as trips, social functions, Groupbook, and other components that are necessary and/ or ad our transition here. The safety information reassured me and it was extremely helpful to know; I also loved the RI accent from the officer. I had to store so many numbers, I even heard that Brown Department of Police Services (or DPS for short) is better to contact versus 911 in an emergency. It sounded like a lot of fun was to occur after meeting so many people already before the presentation!

Our RA then directed us to the Main Green for some activities for us to do where we learned to get acquainted with each other. This game involved that all of the campers in a circle helped us to remember other floormates' names by remembering the adjective of each of the campers (that
where the student chooses to describe him/her/zeself as) which had to start with the same letter as the student's name. I personally was quite dismal at the idea of doing it successfully but somehow I happened to only forget two names! It was fun being on the grass under some of the prettiest trees I have ever seen on a college campus as well as seeing all of the other groups having quite a lot of fun!

The Main Green

Later was dinner which was actually not that bad, but I can see myself getting a bit tired and bored of the dorm food. While I was eating mainly with international students as our eyes were glued to the TV for the World Cup, all of a sudden a fire alarm went off. I asked my RA if this is standard protocol so that students are familiar of what happens in a fire and he exclaimed that he didn't. This led me to infer that an actual fire occurred, where the response time of emergency services was insanely quick- making me assured that I am safe no matter what happens. We then were allowed to finish our food and then to later head out for an ice cream social. I spoke with many of my floormates first about the courses they were taking, international politics, plans. fun activities they liked to do, relationships, and many other aspects. It was shocking, yet assuring to see a RA who is so open and friendly to the teenagers by laughing every other 30 seconds. I can also see his wit and his perseverance to end his senior year strong at Brown by writing a thesis related to his concentration, psychology.  The ice cream social was fun where I have met so many new people but again I tend to be scared of a certain group of people (go ahead, dog me on this) of rich, preppy students who tend to ooze the idea and life of being exclusive and cliquey. It isn't that much of a fear and it doesn't really hamper my social tendencies but the subconscious thinking is still there and it still shows that I can still improve on having intimate and profound relationships with others that I may not even like. I rest assured that this program will not only help me reach that goal but it will make me reach that goal!

Later on, we met with our RAs on the fifth floor lounge to discuss some protocol about curfew and the alcohol and drug policy. I learned that if I was in a room with alcohol, I were to get the (derogatory word) out of the room and that profanity was used in a casual manner so that the floor and the RAs can connect with each other as well as in a more serious tone. Other than that, the rules aren't really exist, showing us the true Brown philosophy and the idea behind it! Looking forward to having a great time but I need to call facilities first to fix the light in my room. I doubt they will come by so I will also have my best to have fun in a dark room!

Brown gear, this was in front of the residential halls!