and so it begins

I am at college. And today, even though it was my first day of classes, I am so very homesick. 475.19 miles is a lot of miles.


While I was cleaning my room to come out to Salt Lake City, I found a list of what a college must offer before I would even consider applying that I made my freshman year of high school. I am proud to say that freshman-Jessie's top priority on a campus was trees.

Overall, Westminster is a beautiful campus.


There are so many things to process right now.

Why do the apartments across the street house turkeys, chickens, peacocks, geese and rabbits all in the same small fenced area? Who do we ask to fix our bathroom door since the knob literally no longer turns? How do you assemble a six foot tall floor lamp that comes in a one square foot box? And, who doesn't want to know the hierarchal tendencies that manifest as a result of disciplinary measures taken during family dinners?

I am proud to say that writing this, I am sitting in our living room with four of my five roommates. Sure, we all have our laptops out, but we're also all in the same room. The room that has a new floor plan, a new six foot tall lamp, a cable cord for the tv and a blanket. Funny how much half an hour of organization can do for a place! Did I mention our clock? It's the only thing on the walls... and so far, it only knows how to say 10:10 because it's lacking a battery.
We also have a magazine on the table. We are professionals and we are planning an ice cream run soon.

The campus has been really great about putting on 'fun things' for us to go to, comedians and bands and inflatable bouncy houses. It's a good effort, but it's all so loud and it's all so busy and it makes me want to settle into my room and listen to the turkeys next door.

So, I'm thinking that while it might take me a while, I'm shooting for some sort of balance between social and hermit, academic and silly, homesick and happy.

And honestly, there are some things here - the bricks, the bikes, the books - that remind me some of home, and they are invaluable to me.

Because a little bit of balance is something everyone needs now and then, don't you think?