New Student Orientation (Not a minute to breathe but you barely notice because you are having too much fun!)

Dear Family, Friends, and whomever else this may be sent to,

Today I start classes at Stanford University. In the mayhem that ensues, let this blog be a way to reach out to those that are not physically close by in my life at the moment. I will try to keep everyone updated on the ups and downs and general things going on in my life.

To get up to speed on my time at Stanford, let's travel back one week. Last tuesday, I arrived on campus with four suitcases and an emotional spectrum ranging from excited to completely terrified. The unknown life that awaited me brought feelings up that I was not used to or really ready for. But here I am.

As I walked up to my dorm, a group of six dorm staff, screamed at the top of their lungs, "ARI! WELCOME TO STANFORD!" I was not wearing my name tag yet and so immediately started trying to figure out what the heck was going on. (It turns out they memorize everyone's name and face in the dorm before we get to campus, about 100 people) The real meaning for me lay in the fact that in this unknown, undiscovered world of college, there was someone who already knew me, a little bit, even if it was just in name. Someone was already calling out to me as if I belonged here, and it made it feel like home. I set up my dorm and even got a rose plant to keep me company.

Tuesday was mainly moving in day, and then saying goodbye day. I confess that saying goodbye to my parents was not entirely how I expected it. I expected to be extremely sad and emotional and dramatic. I am sorry to say it wasn't. I had many moments of tears back at home before leaving, but when I was on campus, things just started falling into place. I was ready for what came next.

We had some formal welcomes and get to know you games back at the dorm. We learned some cheers and before we knew it, we heard the beating of distant music. Band run. The first of many Stanford traditions. The band, in full rally gear, goes to every campus residence and "wakes them up." The dorm then joins the sprint around campus in cheer, sweat, and exhaustion. It got you moving to the Stanford beat though. The whole shebang ended in main quad with the final song as "All Right Now," the Stanford fight song. Finally we all crashed and fell asleep...

.... for only a couple hours because Wednesday morning we woke up to take placement tests, have more formal introductions, and lectures on how to choose classes at Stanford. That night we went to a program called Faces of Community. This was about the multiple identities that are found at Stanford. It was about appreciating diversity and adjusting to life at Stanford. The performances brought me and fellow classmates to tears. Everyone had such amazing stories of difficulty and of triumph. It made it feel like it was okay to just be yourself. Afterwards, in the dorms, we had discussions with our dorms about who we are and how to make our dorm a welcoming place. We talked about our differences and how to help others be comfortable with their own. It was really moving.

To add in here: The food here is incredible. Each dorm has its own garden where they grow vegetables and they try and get everything else locally. They only use cage-free eggs and grass-fed beef. They have so many options everyday. There is a tofu dish at every meal (even breakfast) and every time there is a meat option, there is also a vegetarian option. I am eating so many vegetables that are cooked deliciously. Totally in heaven about the food. I don't really know if I have stopped talking about it.

Thursday we had our first lecture all together and then we could branch out and chose what lectures we were interested in. I went to the Power of a Story. We talked about which super power we would rather have, invisibility or flying. In the The Psychology of American Elections: Getting Into the Heads of Voters we learned that George Bush should not have won the 2000 election, not because of counting mistakes of votes, but because of the order that the candidates were listed on the ballot and this can be supported by masses of statistical evidence.

Thursday evening began with a panel discussion by the authors of the Three Books we read over the summer (Chad Harbach, The Art of Fielding, Luong Ung, First They Killed My Father, Arlie Russell Hothshield, The Outsourced Self) and then went fountain hopping. Fountain Hopping is the activity by Stanford students where they put on swimsuits and go swimming in the fountains around campus (most notably The Claw, http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/june/images/claw_news.jpg). We ran to four main fountains on campus.

Friday we attended a very awkward, humorous, and entirely too silly performance about drugs, alcohol, and relationships on campus. I was not entirely happy about the way some issues were presented but apparently this is pretty much always the case. Friday evening I went to my first Swing Dancing event where we learned very basic swing moves and saw a performance by the group I will eagerly try out for called Swingtime! That night in the dorm we all watched Step Brothers together.

Saturday was my first football game ever.

Stanford played ASU (we won 42-21? if I am remembering correctly... yes I know that I could just look it up). I was at the game two hours before it started to get good seats and have some fun with my classmates. We learned all the traditions (jiggle your keys before kick-off, a specific cheer at first down, be loud when the other team is on defense, etc) and got to see the band at its finest (my favorite part). The drum major was dressed as Thor and so the conducting stick was Thor's hammer :) (parents ask your kids). Oh! And it was pouring rain for the first hour before the game so we are got completely soaked and froze our butts off. I only reason I didn't go insane from cold is that our RCC (one of the staff members of the dorm), gave me his dry rain jacket to wear :). I loved being at the game.

After warming up that night we went to comedy where the Rober Barons (sketch comedy) and the Simps (improv) performed. They were fantastic but they made me miss the improv troupes (The Show) back in Albuquerque.

Sunday was another cool down day. Kaya (a good friend of mine already!, people keep mixing us up and thinking we are sisters) and I biked our classes (with helmets and we didn't crash!) and biked to Trader Joe's for some snacks to have in the dorm. As we all got super stressed for classes the next day, we went to Cumberley Auditorium to watch Monster's University. Watching a movie with so many wonderful people calmed our nerves and got us ready for the big day.