February 22

I SIGNED MY FIRST LEASE TODAY

Alright, so the excitement today didn't start until 2:50pm (CET +1). We were given an extra credit assignment for precalc to learn a section and teach the class. Our section was on solving nonlinear equations...it's algebra, it's a joke, and it was simple...for me, others struggled, but I won't comment much on that. Jacqueline was standing up "teaching" with us when her housing availability opened. The only option available to her was Salley Hall. Salley is known for it's prison cell sized bedrooms and appearance, and lately has been making headlines around campus as the "moldy" one. Once Jacqueline refreshed her options about 5 more options appeared in an all girls dorm, Broward, but there were not a lot. We were freaking out, casually, in front of the class and professor, but once she let us go back to our seats, we had a group discussion. Mine and Brittany's openings are not until tomorrow (the 23rd) and Lia's was not until 6pm tonight. 

We started looking up apartments and places available to us off campus, because Salley is not a place we want to be. The FYA program guarantees us housing, but it does not guarantee us good housing. Upon further inspection of the housing agreement FSU is "unable to provide a dust, allergen, mold, or mildew-free accommodation." What? OSU has spoiled me with thinking that campus housing is great, FSU has obviously not figured itself out yet. One of my friends has made the point of saying that FSU is outgrowing itself, and it is. 

With all of this in mind, and taking the advice from those here last semester, and the upperclassmen this semester, we all seriously looked into living off campus. Dad called many, many apartment complexes for us, which was a lifesaver. 8 hours later, we have a nice 4 bed, 4 bath, apartment 3 minutes walk from campus. We talked to other FYA who were planning on living there, and they had openings and it all just fell into place. 

I'm kind of upset that I am not living on campus, because I'm not getting that "college experience," but at the same time, I am also not getting the average college experience to begin with. I signed my lease while in Valencia, Spain, and within the next 10 days I will have traveled to 3 different countries for Spring Break. That's insane, and not normal, but it's working out really well for me. 

I'm super excited to be living with Jacqueline, Brittany, and Lia next year. We don't think it will be too overwhelming, because our schedules won't be the same (like they are here) and we won't be traveling with one another all the time. We can be out and make friends, but still know we'll be coming back to a clean apartment with great friends at night. I really am stoked! (I also feel like I've had my fair share of roommate experiences in my time here, so, in a way, I've got part of that "college experience," already.)

This program really has been life changing. It was the best choice for me and I have made really great friends by being a part of it. We've been through so much together, travel wise and personal wise. We've had those all-nighters where we just talk about life, and we've fought about travel plans before and during the travel, but we make it through. This is just a really cheesy paragraph so everyone reading this, and future me, knows how grateful I am to have made such great friends here.