Welcome week ends today. And tomorrow?
Tomorrow classes start. Let the real stuff begin. Oh boy. For serious though, it's a bittersweet thing that welcome week is ending. Bitter in that there won't be any more Frontline. Sweet in that school is starting...and that there won't be any more Frontline.
Sure, it was oodles of fun, but it did feel a little bit like a summer camp, what with the set schedule and all. Maybe now I'll actually feel like I'm at college.
The whole Frontline experience was definitely a good one. What is - or rather, was - Frontline, you ask? Excellent question. An excellent question!
Frontline was what all the incoming freshmen experienced. Students were randomly divided up into groups of about fifteen. Each group is led by two current students; one guy and one girl. These groups then spend the next couple days playing games, eating frozen yogurt, hanging out, and generally bonding with each other within numerous scheduled activities and numerous unscheduled activities. Great fun is had by all.
It's essentially instant friends. Just add water!
This year, I believe there were 24 Frontline groups. I was in group three - led by the jocular Jeremiah and brilliant Brittany. Buuuut, I think I'll start at the beginning...
The Move In
So we headed down to Vanguard on Friday. Me being the social butterfly that I am (or not?), I was out late with friends (how do we get off this roundabout!?!). Therefore, laws of physics and sleep deprivation being what they are, I slept nearly the entire trip. Pretty uneventful, as far as I was concerned.
We arrived at Zach's house just in time to wait two hours for him to get back from work. Got to meet his new roommate, though, so that was fun. After Zach returned home, my dad made salsa, which was quite delicious. Oh, and I finally came face-to-face with Zach's significant other (hi, Patricia!). Good fun for all.
After feasting on a lovely meal of meat, chips, tortillas, salsa, and assorted other hispanic-type food, we relaxed in repose as we took a respite from the rabid ravings of ragtag reporters ranting.
The next day was move-in day. That was an adventure. After waiting in line for a good thirty minutes to check in, it was time to unload. We toodled over to the men's dorms and came face-to-face with a group of cheering, ecstatic Frontline leaders.
They moved me in.
I didn't have to carry a single thing to my room. Awesome.
Of course, I was only on the second floor, anyway, so it wouldn't have been too bad if I had to do it myself, but it sure did save a lot of trips. Thanks guys!
My roommate hadn't arrived yet, so my entire family - bar one - helped me to rearrange my room. Now there was an experience. Picture five people trying to move around two beds, two desks, and a dresser in a room roughly twenty by fifteen square feet already stuffed with...stuff.
It was pretty epic. But after much sweat and many tears, we finally figured it out. Afterwards, we left campus for a couple hours for a bit of family time. Almost got my parents to cry at brekkies. =)
When we finally returned, I finally got to meet my roommate, Micah. Sweet guy. A bit quiet, but nothing wrong with that.
Orientation...of sorts
Later that evening, we had dinner, during which I met many people who knew Zach and were quite excited to meet me. In fact, it's been like that all week. It goes something like "Hey, aren't you Zach Dove's brother? Oh my gosh! You totally look like him!"
Thank you, genetics.
Anyways, after dinner, I bid farewell to my parents after showing them my mostly-completed room. Of course, it wasn't until after I had to chase them down twice that the actually left. That's generally what happens, I suppose, when people forget stuff.
And then, all the students were introduced to their Frontline groups. My group played some games and did some stuff that's already a blur, but we had lots of fun.
In fact, over the next couple days, that's about all we did. It felt more like a summer camp then college, but it definitely helped to break the ice for everyone.
Activities included going to the beach for games of Buck Buck (amazing game); both just for fun and against one of the schools that is - so I've been told - one of our rivals, Biola. (We completely smashed them, of course)
All in all, it was a fun week, with many more stories to be told than what I've written here, but this entry is already ridiculously long. Or so it seems. So I'll shut up now and let you wander off to something else.
Ta!
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