And I'm not sure how I feel about it. The past few days I've been able to sleep in because I didn't have any early morning orientations like my other roommates but today was my turn. I had to be at a Steinhardt M-PAP orientation at 9 am, which seemed hellishly early compared to my (so far) usual wakeup time of eleven or so. When I got there I saw that they'd provided Starbucks coffee and various pastries which I was so excited to see. They know us so well already! Us music and arts students can't survive before noon without coffee.
The orientation itself was really fun. I made a new friend, Sonja, when we were checking in and we ended up sitting together. She's a studio art major, and she's from New Jersey, I think. Poor thing had really bad allergies-- she said something about being allergic to her dorm room-- and kept having to get up and leave to go blow her nose. I felt bad for the guy sitting on the end of the row because he had to get up every time to let her out.
We heard from various Steinhardt staff members who had a lot of really helpful tips on surviving our first year, and we got to know our Orientation Leaders, or OL's, who were current students at Steinhardt. We played a "speed meeting" game where they numbered the rows and had the odd rows get up and move to the next odd row back and turn around to the even row behind them and introduce themselves. I met a lot of nice people, most of whom were Music Business majors (seems pretty popular).
After that they broke us up into our various majors so that we could meet everyone else and find out more about our programs. I met about one-third of the VP's, because a lot of people had their diagnostic hearings during the orientation time. Most of the VP's who I met were Classical emphases, but that's okay because we're spending the first two years mostly together; they don't split us up until junior year. had two OL's who were both VP majors: Sydney, a MT emphasis, and Will, a Classical emphasis. They answered a lot of our questions and gave us so much useful information about the program and what to expect from the coming years. One interesting point they brought up was that as VP majors, we kind of have a built-in excuse to wear sweats and tank tops to class most days out of the week. I have an 8 am dance class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and with five minutes in between most of my classes I most likely won't have enough time to change into something else. So if anyone asks we can be like "well I had an 8 am dance class, I didn't have time to change."
Tomorrow night we have a meeting/mixer with our mentors, which I'm really looking forward to. I actually already met my mentor Taylor on Tuesday at my first orientation. The cast of Sweet Smell of Success performed a few numbers and she's in the show, which I didn't know. So I was just sitting in the house waiting for the presentation to start and then she came up to me and was like "Melissa?" and I looked up and recognized her from her Facebook profile. She's really sweet and friendly-- she dragged me up to the front of house and introduced me to some second- and third-year VP majors and some of my fellow freshman.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Day Two of College Life!
Today was a little less crazy than yesterday, but it was still a whirlwind. I woke up around 10:30 am (sooo luxurious, I know) to an empty dorm room. All my roommates had orientation for their various colleges, which all started around 8 am. It was kind of weird to have the room to myself, but it was also kind of nice, I suppose. I showered, blow-dried my hair, and got ready for the day.
We had to meet in the elevator lobby on our floor at 12:30 so that we could all go to the Presidential Welcome and Reality Show as a floor. I figured my roommates wouldn't be back until noon or so, so I ate some leftovers from dinner last night. But by 12:15 no one had showed up so I called them and asked, "Where is everybody?" They all said they were running late but that they were suuuuper close, so I went out to the elevator lobby to meet the other people on my floor and wait for my roommates to show up. Finally everyone gathered up and off we went!
We took the subway, which was pretty exciting. It was my first subway ride as an official NYU student! Safe to say Brittany Hall kind of took over the subway system; there was a huge crowd of us and all non-NYU people looked at us like we were a cult or something. It was actually pretty funny to watch.
The line to get into the theatre was RIDICULOUS! It went around the block and wound around a few times, and it was very very hot. The Presidential Welcome itself was pretty cool. They showed us a few videos explaining NYU's history and kind of what to expect from our experience at NYU. President Sexton spoke to us, and his speech was pretty moving. He's a very inspirational person and he seemed to really mean every word he said. The only negative part of the event was that it was long. I mean, really, really, really long. I almost fell asleep a few times. But the Reality Show was pretty interesting, and not too long. It was a musical show written, directed, and performed by NYU students who were all incredibly talented. It was kind of neat how they took a bunch of relevant topics such as making friends, going to parties and knowing how to be safe, and balancing homework loads and turned them into musical numbers that were entertaining and informative.
After the show ended, my roommates and I decided to get away from the giant crowd of fellow NYU freshmen who were crowding the closest subway station. We walked down a few blocks to a different station and headed back toward Washington Square Park (WSP). I deemed Caroline our official subway navigator because she told us she used the system a lot with her parents and that she's pretty familiar with how things work. Hooray!
Our floor RA, Florie, sent out an email saying that we were all going to meet in the elevator lobby at 6:15 to walk over to Downstein for dinner, and that everyone should go. Apparently, Downstein is what they call Weinstein, because it's basically down the street from us. I went with my roommates and a few of the guys who live in the quint across the hall from us, they're pretty nice. I'm the first of my roommates to really try and make friends outside of our room and the people we already know here, so I'm pretty proud of myself.
I went with Caroline and Jasmine to go see the A Capella Show at Kimmel Center, which was AMAZING!!! I watched my friend Dash perform in the Mix Tapes, and then I was very surprised to see John Bujalski and Nick Kenrick both performing in a different group, the Vocaholics. I also saw my friend Adrienne Eller perform in the N'Harmonics, which I think might be the best group on campus because they were last to perform and when they were announced everyone started cheering like crazy! And they were kind of amazing. I got so excited watching everyone perform, and I really want to audition for one of the groups. Maybe Dash could help me get into the Mix Tapes, who knows!
After the a capella show, we stopped by our local grocery store Gristedes to get some nibbles and soda, and now we're chilling in our dorm room watching TV and painting our nails. Dan-a and Karen went out to some college party for 18+ that's glow in the dark themed. I kind of get the impression that they'll be the ones who go out to parties, and Caroline and Jasmine and I will be the ones to stay in and watch TV and hang out. But that's totally okay! We all get along really well and it's going to be fine. The only thing that was annoying was that this morning Dan-a's alarm clock went off like five bajillion times and she kept hitting snooze, and Caroline and I were both kind of like "Uhh hello...?". Caroline said she felt bad for me because I didn't need to be up that early but I was woken up because of her alarm. I didn't really mind because I understand that it's all of our first time sharing a room with others so we might not realize that it's insanely annoying to keep hitting the snooze button and sleep through your alarm that wakes everyone else up. Its forgivable for the first few nights, but if it continues to be an issue I think Caroline and I might talk to her.
On a better note! We're having a deep conversation about religion and beliefs right now and it's actually really interesting and enlightening. We all have very similar ideals and it's cool to discuss these kinds of things with people who agree with me. I'm going to go join that conversation now, so see ya later!
Signing off from the Big Apple,
Melissa
We had to meet in the elevator lobby on our floor at 12:30 so that we could all go to the Presidential Welcome and Reality Show as a floor. I figured my roommates wouldn't be back until noon or so, so I ate some leftovers from dinner last night. But by 12:15 no one had showed up so I called them and asked, "Where is everybody?" They all said they were running late but that they were suuuuper close, so I went out to the elevator lobby to meet the other people on my floor and wait for my roommates to show up. Finally everyone gathered up and off we went!
We took the subway, which was pretty exciting. It was my first subway ride as an official NYU student! Safe to say Brittany Hall kind of took over the subway system; there was a huge crowd of us and all non-NYU people looked at us like we were a cult or something. It was actually pretty funny to watch.
The line to get into the theatre was RIDICULOUS! It went around the block and wound around a few times, and it was very very hot. The Presidential Welcome itself was pretty cool. They showed us a few videos explaining NYU's history and kind of what to expect from our experience at NYU. President Sexton spoke to us, and his speech was pretty moving. He's a very inspirational person and he seemed to really mean every word he said. The only negative part of the event was that it was long. I mean, really, really, really long. I almost fell asleep a few times. But the Reality Show was pretty interesting, and not too long. It was a musical show written, directed, and performed by NYU students who were all incredibly talented. It was kind of neat how they took a bunch of relevant topics such as making friends, going to parties and knowing how to be safe, and balancing homework loads and turned them into musical numbers that were entertaining and informative.
After the show ended, my roommates and I decided to get away from the giant crowd of fellow NYU freshmen who were crowding the closest subway station. We walked down a few blocks to a different station and headed back toward Washington Square Park (WSP). I deemed Caroline our official subway navigator because she told us she used the system a lot with her parents and that she's pretty familiar with how things work. Hooray!
Our floor RA, Florie, sent out an email saying that we were all going to meet in the elevator lobby at 6:15 to walk over to Downstein for dinner, and that everyone should go. Apparently, Downstein is what they call Weinstein, because it's basically down the street from us. I went with my roommates and a few of the guys who live in the quint across the hall from us, they're pretty nice. I'm the first of my roommates to really try and make friends outside of our room and the people we already know here, so I'm pretty proud of myself.
I went with Caroline and Jasmine to go see the A Capella Show at Kimmel Center, which was AMAZING!!! I watched my friend Dash perform in the Mix Tapes, and then I was very surprised to see John Bujalski and Nick Kenrick both performing in a different group, the Vocaholics. I also saw my friend Adrienne Eller perform in the N'Harmonics, which I think might be the best group on campus because they were last to perform and when they were announced everyone started cheering like crazy! And they were kind of amazing. I got so excited watching everyone perform, and I really want to audition for one of the groups. Maybe Dash could help me get into the Mix Tapes, who knows!
After the a capella show, we stopped by our local grocery store Gristedes to get some nibbles and soda, and now we're chilling in our dorm room watching TV and painting our nails. Dan-a and Karen went out to some college party for 18+ that's glow in the dark themed. I kind of get the impression that they'll be the ones who go out to parties, and Caroline and Jasmine and I will be the ones to stay in and watch TV and hang out. But that's totally okay! We all get along really well and it's going to be fine. The only thing that was annoying was that this morning Dan-a's alarm clock went off like five bajillion times and she kept hitting snooze, and Caroline and I were both kind of like "Uhh hello...?". Caroline said she felt bad for me because I didn't need to be up that early but I was woken up because of her alarm. I didn't really mind because I understand that it's all of our first time sharing a room with others so we might not realize that it's insanely annoying to keep hitting the snooze button and sleep through your alarm that wakes everyone else up. Its forgivable for the first few nights, but if it continues to be an issue I think Caroline and I might talk to her.
On a better note! We're having a deep conversation about religion and beliefs right now and it's actually really interesting and enlightening. We all have very similar ideals and it's cool to discuss these kinds of things with people who agree with me. I'm going to go join that conversation now, so see ya later!
Signing off from the Big Apple,
Melissa
Sunday, August 25, 2013
The Little Hapa takes on the Big Apple!
Greetings from my brand new dorm room! Literally, it's brand new, they finished renovating this building in time for us freshmen to move in. Brittany Hall is absolutely beautiful, it's so clean and white and new! It was so exciting to move in and unpack my new life. I think the only negative part of the entire process was the wait to actually get into the building and onto the elevator with my five pieces of luggage. I think my dad and I waited about half an hour to forty five minutes in the hot New York sun. Once we got into the building, however, I was so excited to be there that I didn't mind the wait at all.
I was the last of my roommates to arrive, so I didn't get to choose my bed or anything. It actually ended up working really well. Our room is shaped a bit oddly, it's kind of like an incomplete square, because the fourth side opens into the bathroom and the double room. My roommates Caroline and Dan-a arranged all the furniture before I got here, and I ended up with my bed against the wall opposite our big window, and with my desk behind that. The best part? I get my own closet! There's no door to keep the closet closed, it's just one big rack partitioned into two by a wall with a shelf running across the top. But it's nice and big and all mine. We have an awesome, brand new TV that Caroline's parents bought for us, and then a fridge that Dan-a brought and a microwave I brought. Overall our set up is pretty nice; I'm very happy with how everything looks and I'm so excited for the upcoming year.
Getting into New York was kind of crazy. The flight into JFK wasn't horrible but we had to wait in a gigantic line just for a taxi! You'd think that it being New York, taxis would be more than abundant. I dunno, it was crazy. But the line moved fairly quickly and we ended up getting into a taxi within a half hour. The cab ride was nuts, the driver was pretty aggressive and lead-footed. Dad fell asleep, and I enjoyed people watching during the extremely slow traffic into the city.
I took my dad to eat at Artichoke Pizza and Vapiano, which are two of my favorite restaurants in the city. (Well, they're two of the only restaurants I really know in the city so far so...) It was so good! I haven't eaten at either of those two places in over a year and they were both just as good as I remembered.
Right now I'm sitting on my bed just chilling with my roommates. We're all in the triple, and I feel like this is going to be a common occurrence. We're all sitting on each other's beds, surfing the interwebs and deciding which Welcome Week events we want to go to. I signed up for yoga, a comedy night, a hypnosis performance, and a few others. I signed up for a lot of these events with some of my roommates so I won't feel so awkward going there.
That's another thing. My roommates are so nice and awesome and socially awkward like me. We keep all laughing about how awkward we are in social settings and unable to talk to new people. So it's nice to know that I'm not alone in feeling that way, and I know I have a group of friends to be antisocial with if I need them.
We're all headed off to sleep now, but I'll write more later!
We're all headed off to sleep now, but I'll write more later!
Signing off from the Big Apple,
Melissa
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