New School, New Adventure

This fall semester I begin a new chapter in my life. Two years at Franciscan University, a semester in Austria, and a year at home later... you find me now at Aquinas College in Nashville, TN. I've been here almost two weeks and there are already so many things to talk about! Let me start at the beginning...

Day 1 (August 18, 5:45am): Mom, Dad and I leave for SeaTac Airport.

This day didn't exactly turn out as planned... After arriving at the airport, we stood in a short line at the delta terminal where we were told my flight was actually through Alaska Airlines... even though the ticket was purchased through delta, and confirmed by delta. Very misleading and confusing since I'd not previously had anything like this occur. Sooo dad and I walked to the Alaska Airlines bag check while Mom stayed with the car. We stood in line there for much longer, and when we finally reached the front of the line, we were told that I had missed checking my bag onto my flight by 10 minutes :( which required me to reschedule my flight. We then stood in line for about 30 minutes to get the flight rescheduled. Thankfully, they took the blame and didn’t charge me for a change fee. My flight was rescheduled for 10:20am. This was a long enough time that I was able to go home and eat breakfast with my family; definitely the best part about the whole crazy day! 10:20am I was headed for Houston, Texas. However, thunderstorms in Houston kept us from landing on time, so we landed in Austin to fuel up. This brought us to Houston around 6pm (about an hour and a half delay).

Thankfully, my layover in Houston was supposed to be 3 hours, so no worries there, in fact now it was only going to be an hour layover... right?

Actually, the thunderstorms didn't go away completely so delays continued and we boarded our 8:05 flight… at 10:15. Arrival in Nashville went from 10pm to midnight. Thank you Pamela (RA) who patiently waited to come pick me up and patiently waited when I found out the airline lost my big duffel bag…

In all honesty though, the whole outrageous day went really well for being so crazy. The airline gave me a little toiletries bag to hold me off for the night and promptly returned my bag to me the next morning J

I am happy to report that after a relatively emotional morning (I was quite in shock and a bit frustrated at first), God gave me the grace to be calm and patient the rest of the day. I also had a slight advantage having flown many times before (including traveling Europe), and having been to college far away already before.

Orientation Week (August 20^th-24^th):

First, let me welcome you to the second floor of Seton Lodge and into mine and my roommate, Maria’s, dorm room J

First, you'll need to walk down the "outdoor hallway"

And enter my room ...Please disregard the misplaced nightstand in the middle of the room, that will be leaving soon ;)

Roommate :)

This year is Aquinas College’s first year offering on-campus housing to students. Our small group of 11 girls and 3 guys made history this fall semester as we are Aquinas College's first class of residential life. We're already posted all over the website including our (now famous) jumping picture on the homepage, found below J

You can also find more residence life pictures on the Aquinas website: http://www.aquinascollege.edu/. Under “51^st Year Begins with Residential Students,” click on “learn more…” Scroll to the bottom of the page and take a look at Aquinas College’s Flikr page for more fun pictures!

Below are some more pictures of orientation week.

Above is our kitchen and common area

First downtown Nashville excursion. Left to right: Francesca, Mary, Lauren, Abbey, and Maria

Downtown Nashville! My first night spent in the city :)

Cowboy boots... a whole store for it.

Out for dinner

St. Thomas Hospital and Seton Lodge (where we live) is there in the distance. This is the path we walk to get to the college. Aquinas is located behind me in this picture.

St. Thomas Hospital chapel within walking distance of Seton Lodge :)

Playing Quelf (crazy board game). I might be a weirdo but the napkin around my neck doesn't count. It was part of the game :P

I don't have pictures yet of the last three days of orientation activities, but we're hoping to get them soon! Here's the overview of those events:

Thursday: Y-camp - team building activities

Friday: service work and tours of 1.) Room in the Inn (http://www.roomintheinn.org/) - an agency that helps the homeless not only to meet their daily needs, but to help them get back on their feet so that they can live new, independent and healthy lives, and 2.) Hope Clinic (http://hopeclinicforwomen.org/) - assisting women who are dealing with unplanned pregnancies and providing services and alternatives to abortion.

Saturday: White Water Rafting on the Ocoee River in Southeast Tennessee! A fun-filled day that began at 3:30 in the morning when most of us got out of bed, and departing at 5am for a three hour drive south :)

Coming Soon:

1. More orientation pictures (hopefully), and

2. First week of classes

Stay tuned!