Orientation Week Part I

I'm going to cover my Orientation experience in separate parts because it has been quite an eventful one, and I plan to go into some detail on each day.

First, of course, was move-in day.  I packed up the truck the night before, went to bed around 2:00 AM (because I had put some of my packing and organizing off until that last minute), and woke up at 4:45 that same morning to call Glory, get ready, and leave for the college.  It was about 6:30 when my dad and I were pulling out of the driveway, and we were the first ones in line for the complex when we arrived at the campus.  There were no real problems up until this point aside from the danger of the back hatch deathtrap, my beach and Busch Gardens-induced sunburn, and the tiredness that carried over from two nights without adequate sleep and two days in the sun.  Overall, though, I was feeling good and was ready to move in.

The move-in process was relatively painless.  My dad and I (with some help from a volunteer student) took my things up to room 207 of Gooch Hall to the shouts and cheers of the Botetourt Orientation Aides.  It wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but we got everything into the room in decent time.  Before we left to pick up my Student ID and mailbox key, we had a couple of short conversations with my roommate and his parents; they seemed nice enough.  Jack used to live in the United States but moved to Berlin because his father was in the military (he retired this summer), and now he's back in the States for his college education; we're very different people, but we get along pretty well.  We spent the hour between ID pick-up and lunch reorganizing the room to expose as many outlets as possible, then split off to go to "The Caf" for a buffet lunch.

After the meal, I put away and organized most of my things, and realized just how much of a problem the lack of an AC unit was going to be; it was hot.  About an hour later, I said goodbye to the father and met up with my Orientation Aides (OAs), Nicole and Neal, as well as my hall (which we now call G6-- "Ride together, die together!") for some Botetourt cheer practice and the trek down to our first Freshman session.  Though I struggled at times to keep my eyes open, it wasn't a terrible experience; we were welcomed by many members of the William and Mary staff, then concluded the congregation with the singing of the alma mater.

Later on, we (G6) did a "mixer" that helped us learn each other's names, met with the other floors of Gooch hall, and were introduced to our Resident Assistant (RA), Joe.  Following some review of common sense rules and regulations, we all left with our OAs to eat dinner (at The Caf, again) and sing the alma mater outside of the college president's house; the walk was a long one, which offered the opportunity to talk with some of the guys on our hall.  Aside from the rain, it was a good time!  When we got back, we were free to do whatever we wanted until 7:30 the next morning-- I slept.

Day two began with a meeting in the social lounge, G6 could make the trip to breakfast together at the Sadler Center.  My roommate forgot his keys and got locked out of our room, so I headed upstairs and found him outside the door in a towel.  We left a few minutes late and we were last ones in the breakfast lines, which our OAs solved by filling cups with donuts and muffins and passing them out during the session that followed.  Once the "don't do stupid stuff and lie about it" lecture was over, we did a mixer with the girls on our hall that involved brief introductions and topics of discussion provided by our OAs.  It was much less awkward than we imagined it would be, and was a good way to exchange names and learn where everyone else was coming from.

Lunch followed, and once again we found ourselves at the back of the lines.  I opted to fill up a bowl with cereal, as no one was in line at the breakfast bar.  Yet another session, which was actually very helpful in the class registration process, took place after the meal.  After a short trip to Colonial Williamsburg (CW) to pick up free William and Mary t-shirts from the bookstore, we were given about two hours of free time before course registration began.  I planned to spend this time hooking up my printer but instead opted to use it mapping out a schedule for my first semester and set up a make-shift air-conditioning unit (I froze some water in a Tupperware container, and set it behind the fan, so it blows the cold air throughout the room). 

The registration process was ridiculous.  Armed with donuts from Nicole for de-stressing, our laptops, CRN codes, and ethernet cables to ensure a quick and stable internet connection, every member of the William and Mary (aside from the kid on our hall who never showed up because he was "too busy working at the theater to deal with college stuff") waited with baited breath for the clock to strike five.  The second our phones switched from 4:59 to 5:00, everyone clicked into the registration window, pasted their first CRN code into the box, and typed out the rest of their priority course codes and hit submit.  After ten to fifteen seconds of frantic yelling at our computers to load faster, we filled in the open gaps with our back-ups, rinsed, and repeated until we had locked in two or three of our first, second, or third string classes.  I was only able to get into one priority class and one back-up, but I managed to get an override (essentially a guaranteed seat) in Honors Physics and picked out a few more classes for round two of registration, which happens in a day or two.

Following what may have been the most stressful few minutes of my life so far, I went with my hall to dinner, which was, as usual, over-crowded.  Fortunately, we weren't the last in line this time, but not-so-luckily, I forgot my swipe card (which I now have a system for remembering).  My RA swiped in for me and explained that this kind of thing happened all the time throughout orientation.  This was my first meal of more mindful and healthy eating, so I opted for some Asian food (don't as me exactly what it was), salad, and an apple.  I spent the next hour or two hanging out with our OAs in the lounge until time for the Rec Party (an official orientation activity, no worries, Mom and Dad).  Just before we left, I had a really good talk with a guy in the dorm next door to mine, and asked him if he was interested in visiting churches with me the following week; he was really nice about it and seemed interested.  Soon after, G6 rolled out to the rec with a few choruses of "Ride together die together!" and "Am I right?  Ladiiieees!"  My friend, Paul, and I used the time at the "party" to scout out the Recreation Center and figure out when its operating hours, then left shortly after the event started with a free ID holder and t-shirt in-hand.

Since we were the first ones back, Paul and I helped Joe set up for the 10:30 milk, cookies, and chocolate fountain party that our hall was having.  We stuck around until around 11:30 talking with all of the residents of Gooch and getting to know some new people, then headed up to our dorms to get ready for bed.  About thirty minutes later, I sat down to read my Bible, then settled into my bed, assuming that my roommate was still out at the party I had heard some rumors about.  He dropped in shortly after I fell asleep, then dipped out again and informed me that he might be back at some point tonight.  I once again decided not to wait up and fell back asleep.  

The next morning (this morning), I woke up at 7:00 to catch breakfast before the crowds got there (mission accomplished), and asked around about local churches, so I can start visiting the different ones in the area.  A nice couple informed me of a few up by CW that I plan to check out.  Finally, I walked back to Gooch sweet Gooch, prepared priority and back-up classes for the second wave of registration and mapped out a few possible schedules, then typed out this blog post.

So far, I've had a good college experience!  I've met lots of cool people, and am really excited to get going with classes this week!