I moved to my new home in Fort Wayne at IPFW! I'm in student housing with three roommates, and so far I love it!
I decided I'd go ahead and post a few of my apartment photos on the blog for you to check out :]
Friday morning, I met up with my friend Zoë (we met at orientation in July) and headed over to Rhinehart Music Center for our Music School orientation! We sat there for an hour or so while they explained our purpose in the school of music, and a bit of music history... and introduced the faculty at the music school!
After that "meeting" we went into the choir room with some of the current music students. they split the freshmen into groups, and the upperclassmen proceeded to rotate around and share information about IPFW in general, some professors and specific courses. It was pretty neat and fun to hear from people who are still in college.
After that, they sent us on a scavenger hunt! woooh! Up the stairs. down the stairs. outside. run around. do this. do that. it was fun being with the people, but it was very painful. not to mention the fact that I AM AN IDIOT. I'm that person who wore brand new Sperrys to the oriention. Brand spankin' new. Not broken in. Holy blisters. So that was somewhat miserable hahaha. But it was nice being able to get acclimated to the building without feeling the pressure of getting to your class on time or something like that. :]
After the scavenger hunt... FREE FOOD! Haha, if you're not already in college, you'll learn to love that even more when you get here. Broke college students love free food, and here at IPFW you get a ton of it. I haven't really had to cook/buy a single meal since I got here. gotta love free food! Anyways we had subway in the choir room, then all the freshmen headed over to the performance hall for Freshmen Fest.
The first 90 minutes or so was pretty boring, actually.. They talked about the different things you might encounter in a college community (drugs, alcohol, etc.) and how to avoid it kind of thing. (Not a problem for me, yayyyy for being on medicines that have severe reactions with tobacco and alcohol! #spoonielyfee)
Then they had this comedy act called The Don't We Boys. They were pretty funny! Nothing super special, but I enjoyed them!
After that there was an activities fair, a garage party (in a parking garage with.. more free food!!) and then casino night thing ( which I skipped out on because I realllyyy wanted to go change out of those dreadful shoes.) and then an after at the student housing clubhouse! all in all, it was a fun day! A lot of it was rough, you know first day away from home, everything made the pain worse, I''m a stupid girl that chose cute shoes over comfort, but it all worked out, and I'm starting to feel better!
Saturday was a pretty relaxed day. I didn't wake up until like 11. (one of the last times that will happen for a while..) Then Zoë and I went shopping! We went to HHgregg, Target, the Glenbrook mall, and then grocery shopping at Scott's (owned by Kroger.)
Let's just say.... we haven't quite mastered the whole grocery shopping thing. WE were in there for like two hours roaming the aisles like.. "do I need this? or that? oh I forgot to get this... it's on the other side of the store!"
...hopefully it gets easier with time. :]
I had forgotten to grab one last thing, but Zoë was ready to checkout. So I gave her my car keys so she could go ahead out and load up her groceries since she would be done a few minutes before me! After I checked out I went outside and to my car and she looked a little frazzled. Somehow she managed to lock my car keys in my car! hahahahaha. lucky for us, the window was rolled up over the convertible top a little (it does that sometimes!) and there was a little bit of a crack into the car. so she had grabbed a Scott's employee and he gave her some hook on a rope, and she successfully fished the keys off the seat (thank God my keys were on a lanyard!) Zoë felt really bad about the situation, but I found it somewhat hilarious.! hahaha!
Late that night, we were chilling at Zoë's apartment, and were being total Music Majors. It was nearing 1am and we were practicing our choir audition piece, and listening to choral music. One of the most entertaining things I have ever experienced was Zoë jumping around getting so excited about the dissonance in the Eric Whitacre pieces! freaking hilarious.
Today was another one of those "sleep until 11am" days. Zoë and I then met up and drove over to Campus to pick up the rest of our textbooks and go to the Music Therapy retreat! WE met in the Student Union building on campus. We talked with our two teachers, Dr. Jackson and Professor Farlowe. They told us about some courses and our future as music therapists, and some conferences. It was pretty neat! We then had a music therapy club meeting and did some ice breaker games. Then we had MORE free food! Dr. Jackson made us all baked ziti and salad and cookies and stuff! It was a good day today!
Classes start tomorrow and I'm having a mini freak out. I'm really nervous about the work load.. I'm worried the professors won't like me... I'm just worried about accomplishing a college degree with Fibro and RSD affecting my every move. I know I can do it, and I'm going to work my butt off the next four years, but taking that first step is scary.
In illness news, my doctor finally took me off Lyrica! (Jumping for joy! Happy tears!) And has started me on a new medicine called Gralise(Gabapentin). I'm on the starter pack now and haven't had horrible side effects. I've had a couple of nose bleeds, extra tiredness, and some typical new medicine stuff. It seems to be working, and is starting to cut the pain some! Let's see how long this lasts! (hopefully a VERY long time!)
I'll try to update again next weekend and share about how the first week of class goes!
For family and friends; I love you all and miss you all! I hope all is well in your world, and at various universities and such.
For my fellow spoonies: If you're in college, keep pushing. We'll work it out somehow. It won't be easy, but I know you're strong enough. If you're not in college, keep living life as best you can. We have to fight together and make life possible.
And for everyone out there, keep on fighting, hoping, praying, and burning for a cure.