On the first day of moving in, I was so excited to put my room together with my roommate and begin my college experience. Although I was sad to leave my mom at first, I was quickly distracted by my excitement to live on my own with one of my best friends.

The second day, my roommate Julia and I spent the day exploring and figuring out places we could hang out, do homework and go shopping. We are both involved in the LEAP Program at Penn State that allows us to take the same two classes with the same group of people. LEAP also allows for a group mentor and other resources for us to take advantage of. We met our LEAP groups later that day and began with ice breakers to try and get everyone comfortable with each other.

On Wednesday, classes started and I began to build my daily routine. I was excited to meet my first friend in my LEAP, Mariah, and we always walk to class together. After classes I had to go and grab my supplies and textbooks that each course required. The rest of my day was spent walking around campus and hanging out with new people.

Thursday was the same as Wednesday. I had established a little more of a friend group to hang out with and we spend all our time sharing stories and getting to know each other. The majority of the time we spent learning the ins and outs of campus.

The rest of the weekend flew by. I went to the gym with my roommate Julia and our friends Jane and Bella. We didn’t realize that the creamery was so close to the gym so we just had to stop by and get a scoop. One of our friends birthday was on Sunday so we went out to dinner, bought him an ice cream cake at target and went out on the town.

My first week holds some of my favorite memories and I am so excited for the next five weeks here! I have gotten to know campus pretty well and I have an amazing group of friends!