January 25, 2011

Well, this is a tad late but it is still the beginning of the semester!! As many of my fellow college students know, a new school, a new life, new friends, all that jazz, is rough. Unless you're in a sorority, in which case you buy your friends, it can be diffiult finding things to do on a Saturday night besides watching Netflix with a box of tissues and double fudge chocolate chip chunk chocolate ice cream. Coming to New York was very exciting. I get to be in one of the most busy and amazing places in the world, let alone the United States. I get to explore the Big Apple at my leisure and on top of that, take classes through New York Univeristy, one of the best private schools in the US. However, not all goes according to plan. My dad came with me on our flight out here and I was ecstatic the entire trip. In fact, I sat next to Zoe Berman, a junior at NYU. We chatted about school and finding the way around town and I got even more excited! When we landed, I got my first taxi ride! We lugged all my suitcases in the trunk, crossed the bridge and ended up at the Chelsea Inn, an adorable 30's original mini-hotel. We enjoyed a good night sleep (after watching David Letterman of course) and we were up with jetlag at 9am the next day. Now the 20th of January, we walked over to get my NYU ID, a piece of cake. Afterwards we checked into my dorm and threw all my suitcases in my room. Alicia and Stephanie are my two suitemates, both seem really nice. I unpacked all my clothes and hung them and folded them and walked around the apartment. My dad hooked up my computer. We realized my stuff in two boxes we sent off did not arrive. We ended up walking all the way to Houston, quite a walk people, to get them and took a taxi back. Due to jetlag, not sleeping well, excitement and walking, I got tired very fast. To make matters worse, my dad and I had computer trouble and I ended up losing everything on my computer. I am still redownloading programs onto my desktop and hoping that viruses won't attack my poor defenseless laptop. My dad is sending all the disks I need via mail and should be here tomorrow.

From there, things got worse. Saturday the 22nd rolled around and I was all moved in and went grocery shopping. I spent the whole morning on my bed watching my dad work on my computer some more....and then....I had to say goodbye. At Arizona State, it didn't seem as hard. I knew he was a half a days drive away, grandma and my aunt lived close by, and the LDS Institute was a great place to make friends. I am Mormon and a lot of institutions set up space to build a Mormon church and activity area where we can take religion classes, just like school, during the day, go to church, mingle and hang out, have activities, and YES, date. But at NYU, home is across the country. There is not an institute building here. Just a small chapel down 3 blocks. The closest family are in Virginia. I would be alone. He gave me a hug to say goodbye and I could hear him holding back his tears as he squeezed me tighter. I did the best to hold mine but I am such a boob....I saw him walk down the hall and the last thing he said was, "Smile. Be happy like you always are." Someone across from my room came out and I didn't want them seeing my crying there so I quickly shut the door. He left and I looked out the hall again. The elevator closed and he was gone. No one was in the apartment. I completely lost control and balled my eyes out. I cried for a good ten minutes and debating in my mind if I should run after him.....I regret that I didn't. I could not keep myself from streaming tears down my face. But I knew I was meeting up with Hilary Keyes, a girl I met through a friend at Arizona State. 15 minutes later, my eyes were dried up and I was layered up to defeat the bitter cold. I met Hilary at Union Square and explained why I was late. She responded saying I needed comfort food. We went to S'macs, a Mac and Cheese restaurant that take great pride in their work. It tasted deeeeeelicious!! After that we walked around "campus" a bit and got to know each other. She headed home about 2 hours later and I went back to the dorm. I sat there. Wishing I could see my dad....

Sunday the 23rd rolled around and I was excited for a new day and church to lean on. If anyone understood my lonliness and frustration, it was Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I went hoping I would meet someone....and I did. Hannah Wright and Jared Greco were easy to slip into conversation with and we got along as if we were old pals all three hours of church. We exchanged numbers and I felt spiritually uplifted on top of that. I met the bishop who seemed sweet, and went home happy.

Monday the 24th was the first day of school. I had 8am Tap class and 9:30am Ballet class. Both were extremely easy and under my level. I was very irritated with it all...Those were the only two classes I had that day. I went home without breaking a sweat and looked up dance studios, their class rates, their work studies, all day. I ran errands, made my meals, and worked on my online classes. I have an online class via video chat at ASU. It was amazing to see my dancers again.

Today! Tuesday the 25th was much better. I had a hint of hopefulness enter my life. I went to a 9:30 Jazz class this morning and it felt great!! The dancers in the class seemed to have some experience. I worked hard and plan to work harder as the teacher is very motivating. That is what I wanted. I felt good to just dance and be myself. Ever since I got here I haven't felt like me, very shy and intimidated all the time. After which I walked to PMT Dance Studio where Pavan Thimmiah, a well known dancer, runs the place. I applied for work study there and after an interview, got the gig!! I'm excited to put it on my resume and begin working in exchange for 2-3 free classes. I work Thursday nights 6-9pm. I then walked all the way back to school to take a Politics in Public Policy class....by this time I realized I hadn't eaten anything and was STARVING. After it was over, I checked out a Nutrition class I signed up for, couldn't take it anymore, and left early to eat and drop the class. I was home around 3:30 and went to "Toasties" for a DELICIOUS cooked philly sandwich and gingerale. I came back home and worked on homework, fiddled on Facebook, talked on Skype, and whatever else I felt like doing. Tonight we had a floor meeting at 9pm. My RA seems super nice. Her name is Jessica. On top of all of this, I received an email this afternoon about a summer internship in many places including Barcelona, LA, NY, Coasta Rica, London, Chicago, and Hong Kong. I plan to apply. I could easily get a Talent Agencies or Casting Internship along with AMAZING site seeing, classes, guest speakers, and job opportunities. No way will I have a boring summer!! That covers almost all of it. It's now 11:20 and I have an 8am class tomorrow. The tap teacher made me his assistant. We'll see how that goes. Night....