Last Summer, First San Diego Weekend

August 22nd. 

Summer isn't exactly over yet. Although I have moved in to my dorm at San Diego State (more on that later), we still have all this weekend to enjoy the summer. And let me tell you, Aztecs sure do know how to have fun.

On the 20th, I said all my final goodbyes. I went out with a couple middle school friends, spent the afternoon at the zoo with some church kids, attended night service at my church and said goodbye to all the ladies, and then went home to say goodbye to my two best guy friends.

I did not cry at all.

If you knew me, that'd be an accomplishment. Mostly because during graduation, all I did was cry about how much I was going to miss my friends and teachers.

But this time, no tears were necessary. I knew I was going to be okay. I've got real solid, loyal friends and an amazing church community and a family who supports me through everything. Why cry?

On the 21st, my parents and sisters and I left the house really early in the morning in order to get to San Diego by 7:30am for move-in day. I was lucky because we were early, which meant there was minimal craziness. It only took us one trip to take all of my stuff in my dorm, and only about an hour and a half to get my dorm organized and decorated. Although I was practically done moving in by 10am, I was able to spend time with my family until around 2pm, when my dad really wanted to go home in order to avoid major traffic.

The van was overflowing

getting comfy in my room

Saying goodbye to my family wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I was okay when I hugged them all goodbye, but when they actually got in the car and left, that was when it hit me like a truck. It wasn't sad; it was just kind of scary. The first thing I thought was, "What a big school for such a small girl."

After they left, I explored campus. I've been here twice, but I still don't know where anything is. Even after I explored, I still barely know where anything is. Luckily enough, I have a friend here from high school, who walked around with me. Mostly from my dorm to his, but we're about twenty minutes apart by walking, so we were able to see a big part of the campus on the way.

At 7pm, the floors in every building have a mandatory meeting with the Residential Advisors (RA) and Academic Mentors (AM). I thought it was going to be a boring "do this and not that" kind of meeting, but it was fairly fun. We played an ice breaker, and yes, we went over the rules, but they summarized it enough to keep us all paying attention. Everyone in my floor is a nursing major, except for one business major guy. It's really nice because we all have similar schedules and similar teachers for our science classes and labs, so we'll all be able to help each other out in time of need (like, every day).

Around 9pm, there was a freshman welcoming event called Aztec Nights. The school is holding Aztec Night every weekend for a month, and it consists of different activities to help freshmen find friends and meet new people. Last night, it was titled Temple de Sol. I couldn't really see much (#shortpeopleproblems), but the main event had cheerleaders and football players and the chanting of the fight song and fire being twirled around. It reminded me of a ceremony of a new beginning.

I went with a new friend I met from my suite. We both live in a single dorm, but we're right next to each other. She's really sweet and nice, and I was lucky that she came to our suite last minute because I don't really relate to the other girls in my suite that quite well yet. We went to Aztec Night together with our whole floor, but once we got there, everyone just kind of did their own thing. We were lost for a while, wondering what to do other than pay attention to the cheerleaders at the front who we could not even see. So my friend from high school sent me a text to meet up, and that is when the adventure of the night began.

During my first night at San Diego State, I did not expect anything. I mean, I just imagined myself sitting in my dorm, Skyping my best friend. Man, was I wrong.

After meeting up with my friend in high school and my new friend, I met a bunch of other people. At first, it was just the three of us, and then I saw a friend from middle school, who introduced me to her roommate. They had their own thing going on, though, so they didn't really join us.

When I went back to my two friends, the group became bigger. At first, I was worried because I thought the girl from my dorm was lost, but she was actually just surrounded by really, really tall guys that my friend from high school brought.

It went from the three of us to nine of us. They had a big carnival type event going on for us until midnight, and although I only went on one of the bouncy thingies, it was really fun. Good company, good night.

my friend from high school in a sumo suit

After midnight, one of the guys from the group got invited to a party, so he was going to take us, but we started walking the opposite way and got even further away from the destination. Since we were all a bunch of lazy college students, we crashed at my friend from high school's dorm instead. They have a really nice looking apartment-style suite that's good for kick backs. All we really did was eat Cheez-its, talk, and listen to music. It was a good way to end the night.

My suite-mate and I got back at our suite around 2am. It was a little scary walking back because there were still some parties going on, and we saw some people walking like they were drunk (they probably were) and some just really, badly reeked of different substances. There were a lot of parties going on, especially in frat row. San Diego State does have a rep of being a party school, so I guess it made sense.

Once we got to our room, we both just kind of laughed about the fact that we were planning to stay in our rooms all night, yet we ended up being the last ones back in our building. It was quite an experience I don't think I'll ever forget.

There's still all of today and Sunday to enjoy the last bits of summer. After that, the true stress and responsibilities of college begins. Although my summer has treated me really well, I cannot wait for what college has in store for me.

My Dorm Room:

Much sun,

Annika :)