Transitions

So, no, not all of these posts will be entitled with a word ending in "tions", but this final post about the days leading into college (rather than the days during college) seemed like an appropriate final "tions" title. And besides, this past week has easily held the biggest transitions of my life.

Leaving home on August 15, I spent exactly one week with my family. Approximately 32 hours of this time was spent in a cramped minivan, four nights in three different hotels, four days and three nights in a New York city apartment. While the first two items on that list were less than ideal, the final adventure was incredible. Four days whirled by, with Times Square and the stars from two Broadway shows shining brightly, Lady Liberty regally guarding the harbor, and Central Park providing a welcome break from the skyscrapers throughout the city.

But among the hustle and bustle of the big city, a slight conflict of interests arose. I realized that I have a list the length of Chile dictating all of my passions and interests, and I have no idea which one of them to utilize in a career. I'm majoring in English with a minor in Theatre and probably another in National Security Studies. The low credit load required for the English major gives me the freedom to add a third minor if I choose to. But all of that is nothing to help me decide if I want to write, sing, act, enter the military or government intelligence or something else entirely. And I don't think I'll know any time soon, but for some reason that's not a problem.























On August 22, I moved into college and met my two amazing roommates, along with many of my other classmates. Since then I've made tons of friends, including some people I follow on Twitter, and the great gals living next door, but I also had to say goodbye to my best friends: my mom, my dad, and my sister. I also got my syllabus for Brit Lit and almost died reading the introductions to my textbooks to fulfill my assignment for Monday.

But in all of that transition, there's one steadfast - my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I strongly suspect that the coming week will be one of those times I look back and see one set of footprints in the sand, because I don't know how I'll get through my first week of classes if He's not carrying me.

Preparations

It's really happening.

Now, the above is not to say that I've been doubting my imminent journey to college. But suddenly it seems so much more real. Over the past month or so, I have managed to gather school supplies, bedding, kitchen supplies, bathroom supplies, and many wardrobe supplements (mostly because I graduated form a uniform school and realized I really only owned about 10 outfits I would ever be caught dead in). So the process of preparation has really been going on for quite some time. No, the above is not to say that I've been doubting the journey. It's more to say that the journey has crept up on me much more quickly than I thought. And (if I'm honest) probably a bit more quickly than I wanted it to.

I think this is coming to the forefront right now for a few reasons.

Firstly, there's these people:

But mostly this lovely lady:

who was kind enough to point out that this is the last week we have alone together before I leave for college. WHY would you remind me? WHY? Regardless, we will be baking banana bread and having coffee and doing loads of other brilliant things during our mommy-daughter day tomorrow.

And then there's this handsome fellow:

who's been spoiling me with dates all summer and already has video dates on the calendar where he will "provide money for a dinner and movie. Afterwards [I] have to call [him] to talk about the movie we saw. If [I] want to be really techie, [I] can take [my] laptop to dinner and we can Skype during dinner."

And I would be horridly remiss if I forgot to mention this beaut:

who has been serving God's children all summer at camp. As much as I approve of that, it's taking her away from me. So she'd best be planning to have a rockin' time in NYC before she drops me at college.

So besides the fact that I do, in fact, only have a few short weeks left living in my house with my family, there's these brilliant people as well. First, this gorgeous girl:

who I guarantee I have a picture with somewhere, considering that I've known her for over 16 years. However, it seems to be hiding in the recesses of my computer, and she's gorgeous on her own. Melody has been my closest friend for the 16 years I've known her, and today I had to say goodbye to her and her family until Thanksgiving. I knew it would be hard, but it was even harder than I imagined.

And I would not be doing this section of my post justice if I didn't reference each and every one of these darlings:

who I spent the most amazing five and a half years of my life (to date) with. It will be beyond weird not seeing any of their familiar faces in classes next year.

But beyond the goodbyes, there are so many other things looming to remind me that the journey is beginning. One is this:

which is not mine (I would never buy that Hello Kitty clock), but about sums up the crazy packing that my mother did the other day. *For the record, I was planning to just sort, but she went a bit crazy and actually packed a bunch of it. She said I have to pack everything else.*

And then, of course, there's these two dolls:

my annoyingly gorgeous roommates - Jordan (top) and Tia (bottom). Sorry to the other GCC girls, because I definitely hit the jackpot in the roommate department. While we are three totally different people (think Jordan went to the Justin Bieber concert, Tia went to the Warped Tour, and my two favorite bands are Imagine Dragons and Mumford & Sons), we all complement each other smashingly, and it's bound to be a good year.

To my great excitement, Tia will be flying in from Maryland on Tuesday to spend a week hanging out in the great state of Minnesota. (We've decided to print out a cutout of Jordan to carry around and take pictures with since her family vacation overlaps the dates my family was available to host.) (Also, I'm honestly still slightly in shock that our parents actually approved the week-long visit at all.)

And, in a super exciting turn of events, I get to visit this crazy city:

which I've never been to before but have heard brilliant (and terrifying) things about. No matter, the parents have generously agreed to put an extra three days into our road trip (and the sister took a week off of camp to do it) so we get to visit the famous New York City and (the most exciting part for me) see a show on Broadway.

And then, naturally, there's this:

which looms gloriously on the horizon, waiting to welcome me as a Grove City Wolverine with it's historical campus (established in 1876), and Crimson Pride. Not to mention my first real homecoming and school football game - for a school I actually attend, that is.

All in all, the first chapter of my life is coming to a close. Here's to the next: step one of The Long-Expected Journey.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings