I moved into my dorm room in P.E.O. Hall on the twentieth day of August. It was probably the most humid day in my entire life, worsened by the fact that it was the only residential hall without any air conditioning and we were carrying heavy boxes, bins, and suitcases inside from the car and up the stairs. My roommate and her family were already there since they had stayed the night in town, so the decision of which side of the room would be mine was already made for me. She was from Texas, and you know what they say - everything's bigger in Texas, and apparently the same was true for her tote bins full of clothing and her attitude. After tearful goodbyes were exchanged between me and my family, I spent my first night at college trying to ignore the overhead light and the sound of my new roommate as she packed all of her things into her closet and dresser.
That was the first issue that I encountered here - a loud, transphobic, rude 24-year-old woman who stopped being my roommate and became my suitemate before classes even began. Despite the rough start, I have genuinely enjoyed my first semester in college and I'm sad to see it come to an end.
A piece of advice that you hear near constantly as somebody going into your freshman year is that it is important to get out of your dorm between classes and mealtimes, so you should join a club that is related to something that you're interested in. While I was in high school, I developed a passive interest in how student leadership worked and how events were developed from concepts into a real function. I never actually participated in my school's student council, so the Student Government Association sounded too intimidating. I wasn't nearly as interested in that side of student leadership either, so I joined the Student Activities Committee instead. If I'm being completely honest, this might have been one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. I met one of my best friends Emily there, and we've been able to help some really fun events become real. To celebrate the near end of the year, SAC hosted a Late Night Breakfast where students could eat breakfast food, enter raffles for large and small prizes, play board games, and just generally enjoy each others' company. It was wildly successful with a long line and two hundred and fifty students in attendance - a number extremely close to the number of students who attend Cottey.
I also decided to enter the running as the secretary of the Freshman Class Council, another excellent idea of mine. After an entirely improvised campaign speech, I was voted into office by my fellow first-years and became a member of FCC. Cottey is a school that has a lot of traditions, and since I'm only a freshman I figured that being in FCC would be the best way to be able to help the senior class. Most of our traditions are put on by seniors (anybody in their second year or above), so they remain a mystery to freshmen until they experience them. One of the traditions that the Freshman Class Council does participate in is the creation of a class mascot for those entering the college that year. We all came up with ideas for the class mascot and the freshmen voted for Fauna the Phoenix - which I feel is a very symbolic animal for our class since many of our junior and senior years were interrupted by COVID-19.
Another tradition here is the adoption of younger students by a senior student - it's similar to how sororities work, but it's healthier and less toxic. My senior is Tori, who has quickly become one of my closest friends. I met her at the very beginning of the school year since she was the orientation leader of a group I had some friends in and we've been friends ever since. I'm not only grateful for her but for the friends of hers that she's introduced me to, who have quickly become my friends as well.
One of the best friends that I've made here is Raina, who lives in Iowa suite with me. I'm not sure I would have gotten through this semester with her support and the way that she can make any situation feel lighter and easier with just one simple joke. I love and appreciate her more than I can say and I cherish our late-night Sonic runs.
Oh, yeah, and my grades and actual classes are important, too. I'm currently enrolled in fifteen credits and I plan on taking eighteen next semester - it's a little bit intimidating but I've decided that I can do it as long as I do better and stay more focused than I did this semester. It's still finals week at the time that I'm posting this, so fingers crossed that I will do well on those so I can have a relaxing winter break.