Orientation 2009- I Love My School!

I just got back late last night from USC orientation! It was a blast! This photo is a dorm that I really liked, and where my University 101 class is. Most of the buildings at Carolina (my mom and I are trying out the real nickname and seeing how it works...) look a lot like this. Very grand, Southern-style, gorgeous. We got down there a day early so that I could take my Latin placement test (ugh, what a bummer) which I was not excited about because I haven't taken Latin since junior year. It ended up to not be too big of a deal because I got a good enough mark to test out for nursing school so I was excited. After I took my test my mom and I went exploring through Columbia. There are a couple of "cultural" spots right close to the campus. Columbia is a super small city compared to most cities, and it seems to really be intertwined with the campus. Beyond the campus in 2 different directions are "the vista"-a more upscale area where you'd take your parents for a nice dinner- and "5 points"- the college-y area with bars, thrift shops, Greek life stores, and nice restaurants that you'd go to with your friends.

Our first stop, naturally was the Lilly store in Columbia, Pink Sorbet. Yes, I was extremely touristy in fact and took a photo of the front of the store. They had a darling store front, the picture hardly does it justice!That store was ADORABLE. They had a wonderful inventory and a layout inside that was set up beautifully. They also had one of the most generous sale sections I've seen at a Lilly store- 40-65% off! I met the owner's daughter who was extremely friendly and made me really want to go back there! She even gave me a Pink Sorbet koozie! I'll definitely be joining their mailing list asap...with my university email! How cute is their koozie (on my retired Lilly bedding...)?!

I can't wait to start in the fall at school. It is rapidly approaching! Everyone keeps warning me, "It will be here before you know it!" and I couldn't agree more! My dorm is SO cool. I'm rooming with one of my best friends (I've heard all the stories of rooming with a friend, but I have a feeling this is going to be different actually). She's in a special program at school for some students on an almost-Honors College track. "Capstone" Scholars, as they're called, live in a cool building, have some separate classes, and a bunch of other stuff. My preferred roommate is in the Capstone program and since we both put each other down as roommates but had different dorm choices, we didn't think we'd be rooming together. That was ok, you know, if it worked out it worked out, but if not it wasn't a big deal. Well, since she's a Capstone scholar, she gets to live in that cool building...AND SO DO I! Believe it or not, that supersedes everything, and I'm sorta tagging along. The housing people said that it happens periodically so its totally legal. I'm pumped! Its awesome to have someone to really get excited about school with!! This is us! Woo hoo! Go gamecock nurses!

xxKatie (now officially a gamecock!)