First Week of College : Complete

Oh my goodness. So much has happened in this last week. In some ways, I still feel like I'm at a camp and I'm going to be going home in a few days, but then I look around at all of my belongings and pictures on the walls, and I remember that this is my home now. In fact, I was getting lunch with one of my roommates the other day, and I said "let's go home." It came out so nonchalantly that we just stopped for a second, smiled, and thought about all that that meant.

So gear up for a long post folks. If you would like to take it in stages - so be it. There is just so much that I want to share!

DORM LIFE

I absolutely love all of the people on my floor. I have met and had conversations with nearly each and every one of them already which is crazy considering that there are 35ish people living here! It is a co-ed floor and the bathroom (yes, bathroom - singular) is co-ed as well. So far, this hasn't been a big issue, and the lingering feelings of uneasiness will probably begin to disappear as we all get to know each other even better.

We keep our door open and people come in occasionally to chat :). It's been so amazing to live with other teenagers for the first time in my "only-child existence." In fact, most people at Berkeley are very friendly and approachable. I don't think I've talked to a single person yet that seemed genuinely disinterested in having a conversation.

The other night people were hanging out in the lounge playing poker, and there have been ideas going around of having floor game nights and movie nights! So exciting!

FIRST DAY OF CLASSES

This semester I'm taking English 31AC, Psychology 1, Earth Science, and Classics 10A (Intro to Greek Civilization). Thursday was the first day of class and I had Classics in the morning and Psych in the afternoon. I LOVED THEM BOTH! I was just so happy to be back in school. Completely nerdy I know. It was so cool to think that all of the kids sitting in that classroom with me had been at the top of their class in high school - very humbling.

I'm especially excited to go to my English class on Wednesday though, because I've hardly met any other English majors since I've been here! In fact, humanities majors have been quite scarce in general. I'm one of the only ones on my entire floor. We had a floor meeting the other day and when we went around and said our names and majors, it was mostly computer science, pre-med, and engineering. Crazy smart people!

Anyways, I'm just so excited to learn and Berkeley is the perfect place for that! If I learn something especially interesting, I will definitely share it in the future :).

RUSH WEEK

Ok. So I decided to rush for a sorority here at Berkeley. I had never thought of myself as being a sorority-type girl, and some of you who are reading this might be surprised as well, but since I've been going through this process I see so many positives of being in one. All of the girls that I've talked to in the last few days have been so sweet and intelligent, which quelled all of the reservations that I had in the beginning. Not to mention that most of the 13 sorority houses at Berkeley are gorgeous mansions and are higher up than the dorms which mean they have stellar views of the bay, San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, etc.

Rush week began last Tuesday and it will end this coming Tuesday. Throughout the week, the list of sororities that I'm still in the running for has been slowing shrinking until it gets down to 3 on Monday night. Then we all get to dress super fancy and make our last impressions on our favorites before they make their final decisions. We shall see. If I get an offer from one of the houses that I have really grown to like, I will definitely consider joining! I will keep you guys posted!

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

I have been so incredibly blessed by all of the community I've found here in Berkeley. God is certainly moving on this campus! One of my first nights here, I got invited to go to a student welcome night that was being held in one of the biggest lecture halls on campus. There was a skit, worship, and a message, and the place was absolutely packed! It was amazing to look around and see so many Berkeley students praising God and praying for Him to come and bless our campus. So please be praying for this campus too. I see so many lost souls walking around and it breaks my heart, but there are also so many people here who are passionate and on fire for God!



So this has been my first major update. I hope you all have enjoyed it! If you have any more specific questions about anything I would love to answer them :). I also have received a couple letters from friends already, so if you would like to be my pen pal, I would love to keep in contact with you via old fashioned handwritten correspondence! Just let me know and I will give you my address here at school. I love you all and I hope that you are having a blessed day.

Sincerely,
Olivia

 

 

MOVE IN DAY!!!!

Hello dear friends! I'm now officially a student at UC Berkeley! Definitely exciting and terrifying at the same time.

My room is on the 5th floor and the line for the elevator was super long, so my parents and I just carried all of my luggage up the stairs. It took three separate trips. Needless to say I am SO sore this morning!! But other than that, it's been fun. I've been enjoying getting to know my two roommates, and just continuing to get settled into my dorm room. I'm going to be here for an entire year you know :).

I continue to be surprised by how beautiful the Berkeley campus is. Yesterday when we were walking around, we saw many redwood groves and peaceful-looking places. There is a little creek running through the middle of the campus and there are tons of old stone bridges that cross over it. I'm excited to explore more as the weeks go on!

Classes don't start until Thursday, so I have a couple more days to get settled in and there are many welcome activities planned. I hope to meet some more people on my floor!

I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures up yet - I'm not tech-savvy at all!!! But I met a computer science major that's going to be living on my floor, so maybe he'll be able to help me out! Hopefully I'll have pictures from my dorm and some pictures of the campus up soon.

On a more personal note, please be sending prayers my way!!! I'm already missing my fantastic Christian community from home and I really hope to find one here ASAP. I have a feeling that this year is going to challenge my faith like I've never been challenged before, but I also know that I will come out of it stronger than ever :). So feel free to message me some of your favorite verses or quotes and I will put them on my wall for inspiration! And I also just got my mailing address so message me if you would like that as well :). I love you all, and I will be in touch!

Sincerely,
Olivia

Preparing to Embark

This is it....... The moment I've been waiting for........... Less than 12 hours until departure.

I just finished packing and I'm about to sleep in my bed for the last time in a while. It still feels so surreal.

Ever since I found out that I had been accepted to Berkeley, I have been anticipating this moment. I have been so excited for months, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't sad to be leaving home. It has definitely been difficult saying goodbye to so many friends these past few days, but I know that I will see them all again.

Tomorrow, my parents and I are going to drive down to the Bay Area in the morning and then head off to see Alcatraz Prison in the afternoon. As my dad said, "your dorm room will look so luxurious and spacious after going there!" No kidding! Then the day after that, we're just going to bum around San Francisco and get a better feel for the city :).

And then Saturday is move in day! I will try to post lots of pictures in the days to come :).

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I will certainly need it as I prepare to embark on this next big adventure! I will miss all of you so much and you will always be in my heart. And I take great comfort in the idea that this isn't truly goodbye. I will be back, I promise :).

Sincerely,
Olivia

Memory Post #3 / / Fellowship and Friends

I have always had a soft spot for stories that center around good friends. There is something about true friendship that is so inspiring and heart-warming. Growing up, I looked up to characters such as Frodo and Sam from the Lord of the Rings, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Harry Potter because you can just tell that there is so much love in those friendships and that they would do absolutely anything for each other.

God put so much of his heart into us, and I think that our need for fellowship and friendship is a big part of that. I love watching some of the groups of friends at my church and how they interact with each other. There is a sense of unspoken support and something surreal and otherworldly about friendships that are rooted in God.

I've been thinking about all of this lately, because I know that I am really going to miss having my amazing Christian community of friends when I leave in a few days. Last night, I was at a going-away party for one of my good friends who is also leaving for college soon and at one point, a few of the guys grabbed guitars and started playing for everyone and singing. I love the feeling that always comes when a group of friends is worshiping God together. You can just feel His presence and His desire to be close.

I've known a lot of my best friends since I was five years old. Those kind of friendships are so deep. That being said, I want to share something with all of you. I have said before that I have thought about becoming a novelist and I have actually been working a little bit on a book. This was a piece that I wrote for it a couple weeks ago and after I read it back, I realized that it completely reflected how I was feeling about my own friendships. Here it is:

"Annie looked at Tom and noticed that there was something ethereal in the way that he appeared to her at that moment. He wasn't dressed any differently than normal and his warm smile brightened up his face as usual, but something about her perception of him had changed. She realized that there was something inherently special about their friendship. When she looked at him, she saw the little boy that she had grown up with as well as the young man that now stood before her. She realized how long she had taken him for granted. Just as the sun can be depended on to rise and set daily, Tom had remained one of the few sources of normalcy and consistency in her ever-changing life. As Annie observed him, she thought of all this and smiled faintly. "No matter what happens," she thought, "we will always be bonded as friends who have shared so much life together."

And it's true. I will always be bonded with the people that I grew up with. We may not be incredibly close anymore in the years to come, but we will always have those memories of so many formative and important years together.

Just as that Randy Newman song goes - "And as the years go by, Our friendship will never die, You're going to see it's our destiny, You've got a friend in me."

So hold your special friends close. Thank God for them and pray for them, because at the end of our lives, those are the people that we will reflect upon, and we will realize that at the end of the day, those friendships were what truly mattered.

Sincerely,
Olivia

Memory Post #2 / / Coast Trip

I had friendship issues my entire junior year of high school for some reason or another. I don't say that to be self-pitying, but to give perspective to what I'm going to talk about later. I had been struggling with awful bouts of loneliness off and on for months and I could feel the toll that that took on me. Then that next summer, I went to Houseboat Camp with my church youth group and God really spoke to me there. He told me that being alone isn't a bad thing. In fact, it gives Him the opportunity to speak to us in ways that He never could while we are busy running about and sticking to our own agendas! I remember feeling so relieved and blessed to be surrounded by people who loved me so much. That's when everything changed for me.

That week I got close to a few friends who completely changed my life. They reached out to me in ways that I had never been reached out to before. I am usually the one that pursues in my various friendships, but these people pursued me. I cannot tell you how much that made me feel loved and appreciated.

After hanging out for a few weeks after camp, the group of us decided to go on a little adventure over labor day weekend. It was one of the first weekends of my senior year, and I couldn't imagine spending it any better way.

We got up super early in the morning - like 5:30 am - picked up donuts and coffee and started the long drive over the mountains to the coast. It was super misty that day and I just remember basking in the beauty of it all and wondering why God had chosen to bless me with such great friends.

When we got to the beach, we stopped to pick some blackberries by the side of the road and then carried all of the stuff that we had brought for our picnic - blankets, baguettes, assorted cheeses, crackers, cookies, vegetables, fruit, salami, etc. We spread out the blankets on the sand and piled all of the food in the middle - it looked glorious. I couldn't help but smile when we passed around the baguette to break off pieces for ourselves. I think I might have even made a comment about us "breaking bread together" and how special that was :).

Anyways, we had such a fun day of fellowship on the beach - making sandcastles and driftwood sculptures, and playing Frisbee and such. We packed up and drove to the Samoa Cookhouse and ate way more food than I could ever imagine a group our size eating. I mean we're talking unlimited amounts of salad, soup, bread and butter, ham, turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, iced tea, lemonade, apple pie, and lots more. If you've never heard of the Samoa Cookhouse, you should check it out the next time you're in Eureka - I linked the website just above.

My friend Carson took lots of photos from this day so I thought I would share some of them!












This was just the best day ever - one that I will always remember. Thank you to all of you who made it so special.

And if you really like these pictures and live in the area, this is Carson's photography facebook page!

Sincerely,
Olivia

Memory Post #1 / / Photo Journal

 

I have really only been using an Instagram for the past year, but I have found that it is such a useful tool! I would probably use it a lot more, but, alas, I only have an iPod Touch instead of an iPhone. My senior year was certainly a crazy one and laced through with extreme sleep-deprivation and stress, but on the other hand, it was definitely my best year of high school as far as friends and memories were concerned. So I would like to show you some pictures from this past year, because everyone likes looking at pictures right? :)

First day of Senior Year

East Coast trip with my Dad - We drove from Washington DC to Boston and back in three days! We stopped in Philadelphia, saw Independence Hall and I had my first Philly Cheese Steak :). The other pictures are from the gorgeous Princeton University. We also stopped and saw Yale and Harvard - equally stunning.

I attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security in DC - aka the reason for the East Coast trip. I meant many friends there that I still keep in touch with and I learned so much about international relations! All in all, it was something that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life :)

Yet another beautiful, sunny Christmas Eve on the beach near San Diego with my family :).

 

I just like this picture because I'm wearing one of my Dad's old sweaters! Since then, I have "borrowed" two more - with permission of course :). Big sweaters are definitely going to become a staple for me at Berkeley.

Oh boy. These two. The three of us have certainly been through a lot together! The picture on top is from senior year, and the picture on bottom is from kindergarten. All in all, we went to school together for 13 straight years. I'm going to miss them both dearly as we all head off to separate universities.

Science Bowl 2013. And you thought that a science trivia competition couldn't be intense! We actually ended up getting 3rd place out of 22 teams! Of course the whole time I was there, the only thought I kept coming back to was "What am I doing here? I want to be an English major for goodness sakes!" but I got to spend time with two of my best friends so it was totally worth it :)

For those of you who don't know, I have been playing softball since I was very little! I've never been very good and academics have always been my primary focus, but I like to play just for fun :). I played all four years in high school and my only goal for my senior season was to get in the newspaper for something good! And I did it in our first pre-season tournament! 7 for 12 :)

Senior Prom with one of my very good friends :). Fun fact - He went to a different school so I actually had to ask him to "escort me". He was the perfect date and I'm so glad that I asked him :).

By far, my favorite picture of the three of us ever. Oh I just love them so much! Another fun fact - my mom found my dress at a thrift store for $10. Yep, $10. And it was perfect!

And finally, graduation. I know that I've already shared this picture, but I just love it so much :).

 Of course, there were so many other milestones last year and such, but I'm not very tech-savvy yet, and I need to figure out how to get more pictures from my computer onto this blog. Haha I just copied and pasted all of these from my Facebook!

 

Oh and one last thing - I cut my hair! Like a lot! I know that that might not seem like a big deal, but I haven't had my hair this short since elementary school. My aunt says that it's a "transition cut", as in a physical representation of my transferring from high school to college. I think she's right :)

 

 

Top: BEFORE          Bottom: AFTER

 

 

Anyways, I know that this has been a picture overload sort of post, but I plan on delving a little deeper into some of my favorite childhood memories / stories as I continue to prepare to leave for Berkeley next week! I hope that you all have a great afternoon and God bless :)

 

 

Sincerely,

Olivia

10 Days and Counting

It's getting down to the wire folks. I leave home in 10 days! It's still hard to believe that this is all happening - but I suspect that that's normal.

I went for a walk with my mom on the river trail this evening. Often times I take for granted how beautiful Northern California is and how fortunate I was to grow up here. We were driving there during the best part of the day, when the sun's fading light perfectly accentuates all of the foothills leading up to the mountains. It's just breath-taking.

Then we walked along the river for a while and appreciated all of its gorgeous, natural scenery. I'm definitely going to miss living by a river. I'm looking forward to living close to the ocean in a few weeks, but there is something about a river that is so calming and peaceful. It's hard not to bask in its tranquility and stillness when everything else in life feels so scattered.

Anyways, this is a short post, but in the days leading up to my departure, I want to share some of my favorite memories about growing up here. Believe me, there are many :). I feel like there are many people who greatly dislike living in this area, but I am not one of them. I will be sad to leave, but I am greatly anticipating all of the adventures that are "just around the river bend." :)

Sincerely,
Olivia

Road Trip!

When I pulled onto the freeway on the way to Berkeley Tuesday morning, all I could think of was that scene in the Hobbit where Bilbo is running out of town, arms flailing, and yelling "I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!!!!" Needless to say, I couldn't stop smiling. Since it was a solo journey, this trip really did seem like the beginning of my college "adventure."

I was almost surprised by how much I enjoyed driving alone. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love driving with people too, but there was this sense of freedom about going solo. I could sing as loud as I wanted and I also had complete dominion over the stereo :). It also made me realize that college is not the only big part of this next stage in my life. As I was driving, I imagined myself doing a really long cross-country road trip after college..... alone. Then the realization hit that until I get married, a lot of my life will be spent by myself. Of course, I know that I will have friends at Berkeley and I will be able to visit everyone at home, but as far as always having someone there to depend on (my parents / husband), I will have to be making a lot of my important life decisions on my own. Again, I guess that this is just one of those things that comes along with growing up. I'm definitely excited, but there is always a little bit of a fear of the unknown that hovers.

Anyways........ Berkeley! My only regret is that it was really foggy that day and I couldn't see San Francisco, but I have been there before on a clear day and the view is breathtaking. I walked around where I am going to be living and where I am going to be taking classes, and realized that it's only about a two-minute walk from one to the other! One thing that I love about the Berkeley campus is that it's so lush and green and alive. In the courtyard of my dorm complex they have planted lots of trees and ferns, and I can't wait to see what the fall foliage will look like :). The main campus also has a little creek running through the middle of it, and towering redwoods, grassy fields, and lots of flowers on top of that.

I didn't take any pictures while I was there, because I was beginning to notice all of the creepy people that walk around there, and I didn't want to look like a total tourist. For whatever reason, my computer wouldn't let me add pictures this time, but I definitely want to show all of you where I am going to be living :). Hopefully, I will be able to get a few up soon!

Sincerely,
Olivia