Day 1 At Vanderbilt

I was a little disoriented this morning when I woke to find myself in an unfamiliar room with a complete stranger peeking at me over the top of her laptop. "Good morning," she sang as her fingers stopped their furious typing momentarily. She gave me a gentle smile before returning her attention once more to her computer screen. I lifted myself wearily on my elbows, and through half-dazed eyes took in my surroundings. It took me a while to realize that I was in my dorm; I still can't believe I am finally here. Once I began to realize where I was, I was able to get out of bed and ready myself for the day. I grabbed my toiletries bag from my desk and headed to the bathroom to do my usual morning rituals.  

I am still not used to the bathrooms in the dorms. There are only two stalls and one shower, so one has to be considerate and do whatever they need to as quickly as possible so as to not impede the other girls. It also feels very awkward sharing a bathroom with a complete stranger. I usually tend to do my things quickly and leave whenever I see a girl shuffle into the bathroom to the shower. 

After I got dressed I met my roommate and some other girls outside in the hall and we all went to the cafeteria together. After we ate breakfast, the teacher assistance for our class held up signs for us to help us find them. I lined up behind the people crowding in front of a blond boy holding up a sign for Mystery Writing. 

I found out that my class has about 15 people in it, which is smaller than what I am used to. We gather in a small, conference-like room that has a bunch of tables pushed together to make one large table with chairs surrounding it. Our teacher, a woman named Dr. Jan who is very perky and fun talked to us about the different mystery cliches and told us what we can expect from the class. I was glad to learn that we will be reading some Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works in the class.

After class everyone met in the cafeteria for dinner. I met with my cohort and we chatted briefly. As I was talking to them, I realized how much I missed spending time with them. We barely get to see one another, but when we do it is very enjoyable.

When dinner was over we had a little free time before we went to play trivia with the rest of the VSA students. My proctor group and I all worked together to fill in all the correct answers to the questions and the game made me realize how close we had become in only two days. Already, we know what each other likes and dislikes and everyday we learn something new about each other. I can tell it is going to be a fun next few weeks.