My (Last) First Day of High School

It had to happen eventually. Summer ended for me this past Tuesday and I had my last first day of high school on Wednesday. Just like every other year I had a hard time falling asleep on Tuesday night and I woke up early on Wednesday. I was excited!

Before I left, my mom was sure to get a picture of me holding a picture of my first day of Kindergarden. How sentimental. She took the picture again when I got home because the memory card was missing that morning and the picture didn't save. I listened to High School Musical 3: Senior Year because let's be honest, what else would I listen to while driving to school on my first day of senior year?

It felt pretty great to be the oldest in all of my classes and have seniority. The past three years my math class has been filled with students one grade above me and the same for my physics class last year. My Spanish classes also had upperclassmen in them. It is awesome to be in classes with students under me, it boosts my confidence.

Being in Spanish five is really cool. I feel so superior, there is only a group of us who have made it to Spanish five and we are the top foreign language learners in the school. Being a journalism three student this year is also awesome. I'm one of only a few people this year who are in charge of running the school newspaper. Basically I'm a top dog.

This year I feel so experienced and I love the classes I'm taking. Only a few of the classes I'm taking are required and the rest are classes that I want to take.

Of course I thought a lot about my first day of freshman year on Wednesday. It was horrible, I got lost and ended up in a senior physiology class. I sat down and the teacher got through the attendance list before I realized I was in the wrong class. One of the teachers standing in the hallway had to help me find my history class and I got there late. Embarrassing. The rest of that day was a blur. I really wish I had a picture from that day but I'm sorry to say one was never taken.

Back To School

Last week I got my senior schedule. Where has the time gone? I can clearly remember my freshman orientation, we had to walk around the school and try to find our classroom and then the bell would ring and we would have to find our next class. I got lost after the first class and for the rest of the hour I walked around aimlessly. Freshman year I also couldn't figure out what lunch I was in and so I had to ask one of the older girls on my soccer team. It was clearly listed on my schedule.

Walking into school for the first time as a senior felt a little weird. This is the first year that I didn't have to talk to my councilor about a schedule change and the first year that I actually felt confident enough to not have to walk through the school to find my classrooms.

I am happy with my schedule. I don't have to go from the basement to the top floor this year which I had to do freshman and junior year. I don't have the last lunch again and I have a study hall last bell second semester.

The great thing about senior year is that I have already had half of my teachers for a class before which is good for when I have to start thinking about college recommendation letters. 

I finally got a senior locker! Since my last name starts with M my locker is in the middle of all the other lockers. After having a basement locker for the past three years, being excited to have a locker that's not underground is an understatement. 

Last week I was also supposed to get my senior parking spot, however they ran out so I had to settle for a junior spot. At least I will get some exercise from walking a little farther every morning.

Also, here is one of my senior pictures. I know I'm a little late. I only got one digital copy because they were a tad overpriced, anyhow this is my favorite picture.

 

Well school starts on Wednesday and I can't wait. Finally being at the top after three years of being looked down upon is something to look forward to. Wish me luck for a good senior year!

 

Heidelburg and Otterbein

The final day arrived and it started with a tour at Heidelburg University. I really love the campus it has grey brick buildings that remind me of England. I loved that it has a street running down the center of it and it is a fairly small campus. Our tour guide was so passionate about the school, it made me excited about finding a college and falling in love with it.  I can see myself living at Heidelburg University.

Then it was off to a preview day at Otterbein University. I loved the campus, I loved the brick streets and you can’t beat the location. It is in the center of a very small town but its only ten minutes away from Columbus. It’s the best of both worlds. Otterbein is also awesome because it’s a University but it has a liberal arts program and they gave me a free T-shirt. It’s also only two hours away from my house.

After seeing seven college campuses in three days it was time for a much needed shopping trip. My mom and I stopped at an outlet mall on the way home and it just so happens that Coach was having a fifty percent off sale on almost everything in the store. I bought a purse and wristlet, a treat for myself after working at a pizza place almost every Friday night along with most Saturdays or Sundays. I do love the smell of new handbags.

I am so glad I looked at all these colleges, I feel so much better about making a decision later on this year. There are still a few schools I want to look at and I want to go back to a few once school starts and students are living on campus to get the true idea.

Baldwin Wallace and Bowling Green

Day two started a little slow. I can never sleep in hotels or any other place that is not my bed, can anybody really? Our hotel was less than a mile away from Baldwin Wallace University and when we were driving by it I liked it and then we kept driving and realized that the campus was actually a little bit big and that it was quite a walk from one side of the campus to the other. When I had to stop and catch my breath I decided I would not be a student at BW. Maybe I exaggerated that a little but you get the point.

                                  

I know that it’s called a COLLEGE road trip, but the second part of the name is road trip so my mom and I decided to have a little fun while we were close to Lake Erie. We found a lighthouse and climbed to the top.

I know my hair is a little crazy, it was very windy and I forgot to bring a hair tie. We also decided to stop at a drive-through zoo, I mean it’s a zoo that you drive-through, how could you not stop. We got to feed the animals so basically llamas, deer and bison were joining me in the passenger side of our Camry. See the picture below. 

Also enjoy this photo of me feeding a zebra a carrot, who knew they liked carrots.

And here is a picture of a giraffe sticking its head through the sunroof of the car in front of us. Needless to say our car was in need of a wash after that experience.

After a little fun we got back on the road and drove to Bowling Green State University. I really wanted to see the school because I have been told that it’s a beautiful campus. Its way bigger then I would even consider but still we were close and I just wanted to take a look, I really wasn’t impressed. You win some and you lose some.

Capital, Muskingum and Mount Union

Day one began with Capital University. My mom went there when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, okay not that long ago and absolutely loved it. I was excited to see her alma mater and ended up really liking the school.

A good start is never a good sign for me; it usually means my (bad) luck will catch up with me later. A road trip, of course, is never complete without construction, toll booths and the occasional tornado warning along with flash flooding. As you can see below luck is never on my side.

The next stop was Muskingum University and I could tell as soon as we pulled up that it was not going to be where I spent my college years. I walked on campus and walked right back off.

Another favorite part of road trips in constantly searching for a good, or at the very least bearable, radio station. It was a hard decision between oldies and country. Pictured below are the endless rows of corn that inspired my radio station picks for the trip. It was country.

The final stop of day one was to the University of Mount Union. It is absolutely gorgeous, the buildings all looked new but were built with brick to give it that old time look, and it’s a perfect size. It’s also part of a small town and they get really into the football team. The only bad thing about it is that it’s over four hours away from my house which is a little farther then I want to be. Still I could see myself there.

Road Trip!

The traditional college road trip, the one where you spend months mapping out what universities you want to see, the one where you plan tours with the administration and meet with the professors. Yeah, I didn’t have that one, but nonetheless I did take a college road trip with roughly only two weeks left of summer vacation. The trip was planned on a whim, if you could even really call it planning. My mom suggested I request off work a few days to go look at some colleges, only nine days later we set off on our journey, a practically unplanned college road trip. Calling it last minute would be an understatement, I didn’t decide which colleges I wanted to go to until the day before and still while traveling I added a few.

Another thing that sets me apart is that I would rather not tour a campus in the sense of someone showing me around. Within the first five minutes of walking on a campus I can tell you if it’s a contender. I don’t care how good of a school they are or how good their programs are, if I can’t picture myself walking around on that campus, there is no way I am going to spend four years there trying to make that picture. Some schools just aren’t “me” and “me” is very particular. What I’m looking for is a small school, anywhere from one to three thousand undergrads, brick buildings (non negotiable), a small campus (I get lost easily), be surrounded by a small town and be anywhere from an hour and a half to four hours away from my house.  A girls got to have standards right?

Last minute, of course, I decided to visit some colleges in my very own home state, Ohio. The three day trip was far from perfect but I did end up discovering some colleges that maybe just maybe I can see myself living on.