My planner has metastasized

Dear reader,

If anyone ever told you that college was easy, they lied, and not in a little way. I'm thinking more like a Titanic sort of way. It's not easy: it's hard, stressful, trying, and busy. But it's also fun, engaging, social, and rewarding.

Everyone always says that college is a big change, but until you live through it, you realize that it's not just a cliche. So much has happened since I've arrived here at Centre. In little over a month I've completely reorganized my life--my study, eating, and social patterns, way of writing and thinking, and even my pet peeves have changed drastically. I, however, am utterly convinced that these changes have made me a better person.

My planner has metastasized into an unrecognizable force that's kind of frightening. All of the date boxes are filled with text that overflows into the margins, denoting homework, tests, rehearsals, convocations, movie nights, etc.--if anyone says they've got nothing to do, chances are good that they're lying.

Although I make plenty of time for choir, friends, and respite, it always seems as if my evening ends with me curled up in the library with my latest Latin translation, humanities paper, or history reading. I never had to work too hard in high school to achieve decent grades, but there's a whole new level of work that's expected in college. The first year academic experience is truly unique: usually consisting of gen-ed courses that can be taken at any time, you're almost always enrolled in classes with students from all grade levels.

This constant mixture of grade levels has provided a smooth transition into Centre's social scene. Like many, I came to college knowing only a few upperclassmen on campus, and I was anxious about embarking into the unknown collegiate social setting. After arriving, I felt foolish for worrying. Everyone from the orientation assistants and resident assistants to your classmates are there looking out for each other; we all want each other to succeed in our endeavors.

Well, seeing as how I'm writing to you, dear reader, from the thickets of midterm examination notes, I should probably return to studying so that I can score well on my tests this week. See you soon!