One Down, Three to Go

Hello everyone,

I am excited to say that this coming week is the last week of my first year of college! I literally cannot believe that in less than a week I will be back at home in Minnesota. This year has been filled with so many new people and experiences yet has gone by too quickly. I am really looking forward to summer to spend time with family and friends at home, but I will for sure miss my new home in Portland and LC. This summer I will be spending my time working for a youth program at the University of Minnesota. I will also be spending time rock climbing, doing circus again, and trail running.

My friends and I have already started to move some of our things into a storage unit for the summer. Last night, my roommates and I started taking down all our pictures on the walls and slowly putting everything into boxes. We started the packing process a little on the early side but we want to ensure we aren’t stressed about it going into the week of finals. It was a little bittersweet to wake up this morning and see the bare walls and partially empty desks. I was a little sad because it doesn’t look like our room anymore but I am also excited because it means we are moving into a new stage.

This week I only have final exams for my Intro to American Politics and Econ 100 class. Both of my finals are on Wednesday so I have a lot of time to study between now and Wednesday. This past week I took my last E&D test and did my final presentation which was nice to get them out of the way early.

On Thursday night, LC had the annual ELCYS (Excellence in Lewis & Clark Year of Sports) award show. It was fun to get dressed up with the crew team and celebrate the year. Thursday night was also the last trivia night of the semester that CAB put on. It was really fun because the CAB Exec Board (myself, Lolo, Silas, Henry, and Zander) all were a team. I’m looking forward to being a part of CAB again next year and working with the new Exec Board to continue all the fun events and make them even better.

I am really pumped about being a New Student Orientation (NSO) leader next fall! I will be coming back to Portland early, on August 23, to train and then lead a group of incoming students throughout the week of orientation activities. NSO is definitely a lot. I remember moving in in the fall and being pretty overwhelmed by the number of things that were all happening at once. But I also had a really cool NSO group and leader that helped make the transition easier and I met some of my friends through NSO activities.

Looking back at my first year I am amazed at how much growth I have seen in myself. The person that walked into LC for my new student trip is not the same person that is going back to Minnesota. I have been pushed mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. I have been able to become more independent and establish my own sense of self better. I can’t wait to find out what year two will have in store.

I hope to continue blogging for LC next year to share with friends, family, and prospective students. Thanks for reading and following me through my journey of year one.

Sarah