Kim, ‘12

Hello all!I cannot believe this, but I am now an official University of Richmond student! I’m finally all moved in and have just completed four long, but very fun, days of orientation! This is the first moment of down time I’ve had since I’ve arrived because I have been so busy moving in, meeting people, attending orientation activities and completing other miscellaneous errands to prepare for classes tomorrow!Even though I just moved in on Wednesday, I feel like I have been on campus for much longer than just four days. Let me just recap the events of my first week here and you will know what I mean!Wednesday: My dad and I got up bright and early to get ready to move me into Lora Robins Court (one of the two all freshman girls dorm here at UR) at 9 AM. We arrived at school, stopped by the university’s post office to pick up some of my packages, and started the first of many treks of moving my belongings from the car into my dorm. I then met my amazing roommate, Gretchen, who you will surely hear of many times throughout my blog this year. Gretchen, her parents, my dad and I hurried to finish moving our massive amount of stuff in and to arrange things to maximize our dorm space because my dad had to fly home early that day and orientation started that evening. Let me just warn you that this is where I get sappy. Saying goodbye to my father was possibly one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, next to saying goodbye to my mother the day before when I boarded my plane to leave home. I cried for close to an hour, questioning whether I made the right decision in coming halfway across the country, but then I snapped out of my apprehensive mode when I realized that virtually every other girl in my hall (and probably every other college freshman leaving home for the first time) was going through the same thing. This common ground helped us bond, adapt, and form a new family with each other. And finally, after a day full of moving, meeting new people and overcoming a plethora of emotions, the craziness of orientation began. Thursday – Saturday: Orientation frenzy!! The freshmen were kept extremely busy during orientation, with information sessions, lectures, guest speakers, group meals and fun mixer events. Sadly, I cannot recall every little detail of this period because I’ve met so many people and participated in so many activities that they all seem to have merged into a blur! However, I can definitely recall a few of my favorite and most memorable experiences. I loved attending social events such as “Playfair” and 80s Vegas night because they allowed me to meet so many of my fellow classmates who I wouldn’t have met otherwise. However, one of the guest lectures that we had to attend really stuck with me. It was an informal, yet eye-opening, speech on the problems of diversity that we encounter in our daily lives. I truly hope that this same lecturer graces future UR freshmen with her presence because sitting through her speech is definitely a rare and worthwhile experience. And now I’m here: Sunday, the first day where I got to sleep in and relax. The past few days were fun, but I’m happy to finally be able to settle down and prepare for school to start. I’m sure that I will have many more interesting anecdotes as I go through my first real week of being a college student!

My roommate, Gretchen, and I moving in all of our stuff. Can you tell how messy our room was?

The president’s speech right before the start of orientation!

My orientation group - Group 19!

Girls of Lora Robins Court C1 Hall all decked out for 80s Vegas night!

We finally finished moving in!

My side of the room - I’m very proud of it