Orientation Day!

Today was a rigorous day, filled with excitement and anxiety. Orientation started at 9:00am this morning so I decided it would be a good idea to get up at 6:30am. I took a lot of time getting ready, deciding how it was possible to look business casual in -3 degree weather, as it was this morning. I decided to wear the slacks, but definitely am not fond of cold feet, and so I went with the Vail black boots that mom swears are snow proof.  Well, snow-proof or not, they are warm and that's all that matters today. I honestly do not have a lot of collared shirts, and come to find out, I have none with will fit over an undershirt. So I guess someday that will have to change. It's not that they are skin tight, because for those of you who know me, I don't like that skin tight stuff much. It's just that it makes my shoulders a little more broad than they should be....well anyhow, its hard to look professional (unprepared) with long underwear on. Or...maybe it's just hard to feel professional with long underwear on. I get these funny thoughts when I think about long underwear. Makes me think that I am on of the Whoosits or Whatsits from Dr. Seuss's books that wore colored long underwear that covered their cute hands and feet, and went right up to their necks.

Anyhow, I didn't realize how long it would take me to get my car running in the morning. The good thing was, as I have been saying, that it started. Always a relief. The unfortunate part was that I did not leave much time after straightening my hair and fighting with the long underwear to scrape ice off my car. It barely snowed last night. But the snowflakes that did come, fastened themselves heartily to my windshield. I figured they were secretly laughing at my foolheartedness for being so fascinated at their visible symmetry on the glass. And yes, I tried to take a picture, but no, my camera is not good enough to capture snowflakes. After ten minutes of scraping, and I have to thank my secret Santa (Rachel) from Jesse's family for that very basic necessity. It took roughly 45 minutes to get to school....not too shabby, and not a bad drive at all. However, I was in a rush because I looked down halfway through my drive and saw that I was sporting a dog fur coat on top of the nice black coat I had gotten for Christmas (thanks again mom!). I panicked and considered for a moment the mere shock that I might cause people for being in nice business attire with dog hair everywhere. That would probably not make a good first impression. I stopped at Circle K (yes! can you believe it, a circle K!) off the highway, but no luck. I thought quickly, grabbed my phone, and gps'd the neared grocery store, figuring they would have one. And, they did, yay me. I didn't manage to get alllllll the dog hair off because I was slightly short on time, but the coat looked less like something Cruella de Villa would wear, and that was good enough for me. 

Orientation was .....long. I knew they were going to be throwing lots of information at us, but the day also just dragged on with important speakers. They were very kind and hospitable though. When we arrived, we got a free lakeview bookbag, and were with provided donuts and orange juice for breakfast, and papa john's pizza and lemonade for lunch. Their standards are really strict though. You cannot fail more than 2 skills tests, or you are dropped/failed from the course. You only have two chances to pass the ATI test that they give you at the end of each semester otherwise you have to retake the course it is affliated with. Passing equals= level 2 profieciency or better. Their are tests and papers and projects and quizzes every week. Only 1 or 2 weeks out of the semester (first and finals week) will there not be much to do. Basically, the school is really good at making sure you are keeping up with your studying. I expect this to be challenging. I also expect this to be fun. =)

The countdown to graduation is now 486 days.