I’m finally home! It only took about nine hours on the road, two of which were spent in the basement of a Super 8 hiding from some nasty tornados.  That was an adventure let me tell you! Now there’s only 11 days until I board a plane for the distant lands of East Africa.

It’s so weird, sitting here in my old room, and thinking back on a week ago at this time. I was playing Spanish Scrabble, eating extra crunchy peanut butter with chocolate chip cookies, and watching My Fair Lady. Well, and studying for finals of course! Now I’m back at work, planning for Africa, and figuring out classes for my Sophomore year! Freshman year  really flew by!

I guess that’s all for now! I’ll have another entry before I leave for Kenya and Uganda, and then hopefully I’ll be able to post a few times when I’m there!

And just a shout out, to all the seniors who graduated from NCC this spring, CONGRATS!!!!!

So here I am, studying for the last finals of my freshman year.  I’m looking back on this year and it’s been nuts, all you have to do is read my past blogs to see that!  I don’t think I could have ever imagined just what this year held.  Sure, I thought I had an idea of the relationships I’d establish, and the amazing experiences, but never in a million years could I have ever imagined the reality of it all. I mean, when you come to college, they literally throw you in a room with a person you probably have never met before, your classes are intense and so focused, and you pretty much have to fake it until you make it. The beauty of this is though, it works.  At first you do just act like you know what you are doing and hope that somewhere along the way you’ll figure it out.  Then you get to the point where you realize that you’ve stopped faking it quite some time ago and are now just living it.

And now there are four days and three finals left until summer.  Some of my friends will be graduating, many I won’t see until fall.  It’s a reality check. This year has flown by, and in 9 short months I’ve made friendships that I’ll have for the rest of my life.  I guess all I have to say is this experience of college, this freshman year; it’s been nothing like I could have guessed, it’s been indescribable. 

So to my readers that are entering college in the fall let me leave you with this last bit of advice.  Yes it will be hard, yes you will miss your family, yes you will eventually find those close relationships you left behind, yes you will learn more about yourself than you ever thought possible, and yes you will be expected to fake it ‘till you make it, but yes yes yes it’s all worth it! So get ready, have an amazing summer with your high school friends, and brace yourself for the fist of the four best years of your life!