WHAT UP Y'ALL? Did you forget this was a thing? Probably. How are you doing? I like your shirt!
For those of you who have not checked out my blog before, here's a bit of background (or just a refresher if you followed it last year): My dad is a Foreign Service Officer at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I took a gap year after high school graduation and spent about 5 months in Washington D.C while my dad finished training. I worked a few places there (see older posts for more info) and then in January of 2013, off to PaP we went! I volunteered and worked there as well before coming back to the states in August to start college at Gustavus Adolphus, a little liberal arts school in southern Minnesota.
I am now officially done with freshman year of school! it would take hours to write about everything that happened to me, so I'll just summarize it in one word: wow. WOW. What a GREAT year it was. It absolutely flew by. I know it's cheesy but I couldn't have asked for an easier transition or a better year at school. Awesome roommate, awesome friends, interesting classes, the list goes on.
You'd think that the transition would've been a little more difficult, especially given that I had a year away from academics, but I was really ready to get back into it. I missed school work, odd as that sounds. No one can say they like homework without getting an eye roll from the general public but I did miss the structure of school, the routine and the familiarity of homework. I knew that college would be a challenge, especially after a year away, but I was definitely ready. I was also ready for the independence that comes with being away from home. I was lucky enough to get an extra year with my parents, so even though I missed them, it was more in the back of my mind. the way I saw it, I had stored up on parent-time (picture giant metal canisters labeled "PARENT TIME. THIS SIDE UP. DO NOT ROLL" or something like that). That made it really easy for me to steer clear of homesickness. I wasn't homesick once this year, which was surprising for me.
Getting back into homework and study habits was a little more difficult but not impossible. I was able to register for fall semester a week before everyone else because I was overseas, so I got my first pick of classes. I had two that were relatively easy and two that were a bit more challenging, so that was a nice balance. I definitely learned how to really study and I had to work pretty hard, but it paid off. I never really struggled or felt overwhelmed the whole year, which I think is pretty unusual for freshmen in college. I was really lucky.
And now it is time to go back to Haiti. I'll only be there through the end of July, which I'm happy about because it means I won't be losing my entire summer. I've gotten to see a bunch of my friends in the last week and a half, and i'll see them again in August. My parents are done in Haiti in January of 2015, so this is the last time I'll be going there (unless something crops up this fall and I fly down there for a long weekend or something).
Anyway, I'll do my best to keep this as updated as possible. I realize this entry is not a hugely interesting one, but I wanted to kind of get the ball rolling and remind people that I was doing this. Hopefully this summer will have some interesting stories! I'll be working with American Citizen Services, which means I'll be near my parents. Not sure exactly what I'll be doing- but who cares!
N a we pita,
Soph
No comments:
Post a Comment