"Education is good; education is power."

I started early for my first day of class! My suite mates and RAs decided to be ready around 6:50 so that we could make it to breakfast and be on time for the orientation. I set my alarm for 6:00 but I woke up at 5:45.

Waiting for orientation to start

At the dining hall, which is the building next to the building my dorm is in, I ate a relatively decent breakfast with my suite-mates. During breakfast several of us sat together, talked, and got to know each other better. At about eight o'clock we headed off to the orientation. There are over one thousand people in the Columbia summer program for high school students. That is a lot! Once orientation finally started we waited for much longer than a half an hour, we went over basic rules. We went over such things as curfew, punctuality, safety, and plagiarism. The Dean/ head of the Summer Program for High School Students stated, "You have the whole world at your fingertips but you have to reach out and grasp it. Freedom is never easy because freedom always entails responsibility." This is so true.

After orientation we were released to search for our classes. My classroom is about a five to ten minute walk from my dorm. The first class is in the International Affairs building; it wasn't too hard to find. The class itself doesn't seem as difficult or as scary as I was expecting. The professor seems really nice and understanding.

Lucky for me, Prof. Mesznik was not expecting us to read the three books before the beginning of class. He does, though, want us to read about one book per week (there are three books). Although the books will not be directly related to the lectures, they are meant to give us some background knowledge. Unfortunately, the book that I have been working on is the last book to read on his list.

I was looking at the syllabus that the professor emailed out, and along with the reading there will be short essay assignments almost everyday. There will also be assignments given our by the TAs in the afternoon seminar class. To be able to complete the assignments from both classes, do the reading, and finish my blogs every night, among other things such as eating and sleeping, I need to really work on my time management skills. There will be no late night catch-up sessions for me! I will not only survive, I will prevail!

Soon after arriving for class I met a girl who is also from California and came to the program all by herself. Jackee is really nice and we quickly became friends. As far as the class goes, we are in the same boat regarding being alone in a class and being very unsure and nervous of what to expect. Neither of us knows all that much about the economy either so this course should be interesting. She is in both my morning lecture class and my smaller afternoon seminar, which is nice. Because there are different TAs for each seminar section, the work will probably be different but since Jackee and I are together we can work and study together which is nice.

My residential building

At 4:30 Mrs. L came to meet with all of us and check is with us. It was a pleasant visit. After everyone left, she and I talked one-on-one for a bit. It was nice. She sympathizes with the fact that I am taking a class separate from all of my cohorts and that I am essentially alone.

When away from home your whole routine and, essentially, life changes. Without the familiar amenities of home life is so much different. Here at Columbia, on my own, away from home, I can't just do something; I have to plan it out. I have to go out of my way to figure our when to eat or to shower. I have also had to adjust to a lack of stuff. So far I have gone without blow-drying my hair for almost a week. With independence comes responsibility and extra planning.

Unfortunately I have been over-thinking and I really hope that this class does not stress me out as much as I think it might. I have to get started on that reading!