{"id":3036,"date":"2016-11-12T09:46:16","date_gmt":"2016-11-12T14:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/?p=3036"},"modified":"2016-11-11T10:01:13","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T15:01:13","slug":"your-first-time-living-away-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/2016\/11\/your-first-time-living-away-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Your First Time Living Away from Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although I\u2019m a Sophomore now, this is my first year as a resident.\u00a0 I commuted to school last year for Freshman year before moving Upstate this past summer.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I was able to get comfortable with the campus for one full year before moving into the dorms.\u00a0 Living on campus can seem like a pretty big leap, but I\u2019m here to tell you, that you will be able to manage.\u00a0 This is the story of my first experience living on campus.<\/p>\n

\"liam-cullen-blog-post-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was incredibly nervous on Move-In Day 2016.\u00a0 I remember it so clearly.\u00a0 It was a sweltering hot Summer day, Sunday August 28th to be exact.\u00a0 My parents and I had been driving for almost 8 hours the night before because we live far away in Upstate NY.\u00a0 My car and my mom\u2019s was loaded up with all of the college essentials such as the Mini-fridge, toiletries, linens, clothes, TV, and my Playstation 4, to name a few.\u00a0 We stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes away from the school.\u00a0 Let\u2019s fast forward to the next day.\u00a0 It\u2019s 3:30 p.m., my assigned check-in time.<\/p>\n

I was extremely anxious.\u00a0 This wouldn\u2019t be the first time I was living away from home because I went to sleep-away camp for one week Upstate when I was twelve years old.\u00a0 Nevertheless, I don\u2019t count that because it was only one week and it hardly compares to moving onto campus for months at a time.\u00a0 It did help me prepare somewhat however for campus life. Anyways, I was tired from driving the day before, and I was already missing my family; my Mom, my Dad, and my two dogs and cat.\u00a0 I had such an amazing summer with my family and my pets, my part-time job at a nursery, and an overall peaceful existence in the middle of the Adirondack mountains.\u00a0 Now, I was thrust into college residence life, not sure if I was ever going to fit in or feel comfortable in my new home.\u00a0 There were people everywhere, many of whom I didn\u2019t recognize.\u00a0 Families were gathering all around the lawn in front of Orchard Hall.\u00a0 Mothers cried tears of joy, and fathers were helping with some of the heavy lifting. \u00a0Students were putting refrigerators, TVs, and sound systems in large green bins to be wheeled into the dorm rooms.\u00a0 I could not for the life of me believe how crowded Orchard Hall was.\u00a0 Now that I\u2019ve been living here safe and sound for over a month, it\u2019s hard to imagine how occupied it gets every year on Move-In Day.\u00a0 Hopefully I\u2019ll never have to wait 20 minutes ever again just to use the elevator!<\/p>\n

\"liam-cullen-blog-post-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now my room is set up.\u00a0 I\u2019m stocking drawers, and my mom helped me put the sheets on my bed while me and my dad were going back and forth emptying out our cars.\u00a0 We all collaborate and decide how the room should be organized.\u00a0 We spent about an hour in my room relaxing and reminiscing over our Summer memories once all of the moving was done. Then we said our goodbyes.\u00a0 I knew it was going to be hard as soon as my parents left.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s about 5 p.m.\u00a0 I\u2019m all on my own now.\u00a0 I still don\u2019t have a whole bunch of friends, and my roommate hadn\u2019t arrived yet.\u00a0 I had no real priorities because class wouldn\u2019t start\u00a0 until 8 a.m. the next morning so my main focus was settling down and getting used to everything that had just happened.\u00a0 I headed over to the dining hall and eat my first meal, dinner.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember quite what it was but I was full afterwards.\u00a0 Along the way back and forth from the dining hall I ran into a few people whom I recognized as well as introduced myself to new people who seemed approachable.\u00a0 I soon learned through word of mouth that there was going to be an event later that night at 9 p.m. called ThinkFast, a type of trivia game show.\u00a0 I spread the word to my new friends and we went.\u00a0 Although we didn\u2019t win the cash prize, I had a good experience and it took my mind off the anxiety I was feeling, which is perfectly normal for any first-time resident.<\/p>\n

By the time that was over, it was some time after 10 P.M.\u00a0 I had nothing left to do that day.\u00a0 I remember crawling into bed feeling so inexplicably strange.\u00a0 My life had never changed so suddenly ever before.\u00a0 It was extremely hard to fall asleep.\u00a0 I was worried about tomorrow, worried about the semester, and worried about my parents.\u00a0 I felt as though I wasn\u2019t ready for my new life.<\/p>\n

Here I am now, happier than ever.\u00a0 At the time of me writing this, it\u2019s almost Mid-October 2016.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been here for over a month and in that time I\u2019ve made dozens of new friends, worked hard, had fun experiences, given tours as a Rambassador, and became more independent in general.\u00a0 If you\u2019re feeling nervous, and it seems like you won\u2019t be able to manage, always remember.\u00a0 I was in your shoes once.\u00a0 So was every other first time resident student.\u00a0 Never forget that there are tons of resources on campus designed to make you feel safe and secure.\u00a0 Also, you can find pretty much every single thing that you need on Route 110 (Broadhollow Road).\u00a0 Target is within walking distance, Walmart is down the road, and we have Adventureland across the street as well as movie theaters, Chipotle, Starbucks, you name it.\u00a0 The rooms are cozy, and you have more than enough space to store the essentials.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, your first time living away from home will help you grow.\u00a0 It will help you realize how much you appreciate your loved ones.\u00a0 For example, I won\u2019t be visiting my parents until Thanksgiving for 5 days, and then Winter break for one month.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never been away from my family for 3 months!\u00a0 Living on campus makes you stronger physically (lots of walking), mentally (schoolwork), and emotionally (time away from family).\u00a0 My college experience this semester so far has been nothing less than great, and I am absolutely prepared to finish my 4-year Nursing degree at Farmingdale State College as a resident.<\/p>\n

Never forget, life truly is what you make it.\u00a0 Should you decide to live on campus, I shall leave you with one major key.\u00a0 Be positive!\u00a0 Be willing to meet new people, and be willing to work hard to accomplish your goals.\u00a0 It\u2019s experiences like this that make you who you are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I\u2019m a Sophomore now, this is my first year as a resident.\u00a0 I commuted to school last year for Freshman year before moving Upstate this past summer.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I was able to get comfortable with the campus for one full year before moving into the dorms.\u00a0 Living on campus can seem like a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":3038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[162],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3039,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036\/revisions\/3039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.farmingdale.edu\/sites\/rambassadors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}