Leaving for College
By: Erica Martin
Tags: Life Lessons, College Life, Education, College

When I graduated from high school in 1993, I couldn’t wait to get out of Ohio and back down south to go to college. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but I was tired of the cold Ohio winters and ready (I thought) to get out on my own. After high school graduation, I worked at the local Meijers store that summer before I left for college in August. While I was working, I saved most of every paycheck I got so I would have money to spend on things I needed, like books and other supplies I might need for my classes.

Time to Leave

Finally the day came for me to leave for freshman orientation. My mom, my best friend and I went down to Myrtle Beach to spend some time down there before I headed to Florence, SC to start orientation at Francis Marion University. The first day, I took my stuff to the housing office, and they gave me the key to get on the floor of the dorm I’d be staying in, as well as the key to get in my actual dorm room. The floor key worked easily enough — I just had to wait for the beep and turn the key to the right. But the room key didn’t work so easily. I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t work until a pretty blonde girl came up to me.

“Are you Erica?” she said.

“Yeah.”

“I’m Sherri.” She introduced herself. She would be my roommate for the next two semesters. I had written to her during the summer and talked to her once before I came down. She seemed nice enough. She was from Middletown, Ohio, a few hours away from where I lived in Powell. She showed me how to pull the handle toward me as I turned the key, and finally the door opened and I was able to bring my stuff into our dorm room. I set myself down on the bed and looked at my parents and Jason. “I guess this is it,” I said. “I’ll see you guys soon.”

My mother gave me a hug. “Good luck, I know you’ll do great.”

Jason gave me a hug. “Good luck Erica, I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Thanks Jason,” I said.

After they left, I started unpacking my things and got to know Sherri a little more. I found out she had a brother, and that she’d already met some friends. She’d met a girl named Jolene, who came down to Francis Marion from Canada on a basketball scholarship. She’d also met another girl named Dawn, who was from Hartsville, South Carolina, just 45 minutes away. They were both staying on-campus too.

I spent the morning unpacking my stuff. The beds had drawers underneath them for things I wouldn’t need right away, so I put some of my heavier stuff in those until I needed them.

Lunch

At noon it was time for lunch. Sherri and I made our way to the dining hall, which wasn’t too far from our building. As we slid our trays along the lunch line, we had to choose from different things — fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread, plus some different desserts. I chose fried chicken and some mashed potatoes, green beans and corn bread. Sherri and I finished making our choices, went to the cash register and gave them our student IDs. They scanned them, then we went to the Ervin Dining Hall for lunch.

Lunch was delicious — good old southern cooking, made the way most southerners make it — with lots of fat. The green beans were kind of liquidy, but other than that the rest of it was delicious. The fried chicken was fried perfectly, and the corn bread had just the right amount of sweetness in it.

Orientation

Orientation started after lunch. Sherri and I and the rest of the incoming freshmen assembled in the auditorium of the McNair Science Building, where the dean welcomed us to Francis Marion, and told us what to expect over the next few days. Today we would get a tour of the campus so we were somewhat familiar with the locations of every building. Of course, most of us had already figured out how to get from the dorms to the main campus, but we would get to see the rest of the campus — the fine arts center, the building that contained Founders Hall and the Cauthen Educational Media Center — those two buildings were joined by a breezeway that had vending machines and tables in it — the student center, the library, and the administration building.

The campus tour was very informative. Our guide told us about the different buildings, what departments they housed and when they were built. We got to see things like the science labs and the auditorium in the Fine Arts Center, and the gym in the Student Center.

After the orientation and tour, it was time for dinner. It was back to the dining hall, where they had even more good southern cafeteria food — steak, baked beans, potatoes and vegetables for those of us who preferred something a little more nutritious. After dinner it was free time — we could do what we wanted for the rest of the evening. Some of us, like me, chose to finish unpacking and getting settled in our rooms. I also got to know Sherri a little more. And of course, I called my parents to let them know how my first day went. Tomorrow was the first day of classes!

First Day of Classes

I woke up at 6:00 am, because my first class, Math 111, began at 8:30, and it was clear across campus. Plus I still needed to go eat breakfast, and I had no idea how long it would take me to get ready, eat, and get to class.

Breakfast was another southern staple — grits, bacon and hash browns. I liked the way they made them in Francis Marion’s dining hall — they looked like shredded up potatoes that had been fried. I had some juice a long with them, and I was ready for my first class.

I walked from the dining hall to the Cauthen Educational Media Center, where my Math class met. The walk was beautiful. I loved walking from the dorms to classes, because it was like taking a walk through the woods. There were trees all over, and a lot of squirrels running around.

Once I made it to the main campus, I found the Cauthen Educational Media Center Building, found the classroom, and waited for the rest of the students to arrive. Once everyone arrived, the teacher introduced the class by telling us it was a self-paced class. Thank goodness, I was horrible at math, and signed up for that class not realizing it was self-paced. I’m glad I picked the right one! The teacher explained to us that we would work through the lessons at our own pace. If we needed help there were videotapes in the Media Center we could watch on one of the TVs that had a VCR built into it. We would just need to get a pair of headphones from the front desk. Plus, we could always come to her office during her office hours and she would explain things to us. If we couldn’t complete all 6 tests by the time the semester ended, we could complete at least 4 tests and get a “CO” which meant carryover for the next semester. We would have to take the class again the next semester and complete the last two tests. I liked that idea; I had a feeling that’s what I would end up having to do.

My next class was French 101, which I found out was also self -paced. I knew I wouldn’t be in this class long, because I had an appointment later that day to take the test I needed to take to place out of the 100 and 200 level classes and start taking the upper level ones. The instructor told us what books we would need, and explained to us how to use the Language Lab.

My next class wasn’t until 5:25 pm that evening — Biology. Why I chose to take a Biology class at 5:25 at night, I have no idea. Still, I had enough time to eat lunch, buy my books for my first few classes, take my test to place out of French, and maybe even do some more exploring on the campus. I also unpacked and arranged my dorm room some more. Then I decided to go eat an early dinner in the Dining Hall since my Biology class wouldn’t let out until about 7:00. Dinner choices were about the same as lunch, but we did also have the choice of burgers or chicken sandwiches and fries from the grill. Mmmm, more delicious southern cooking.

My biology class was fine. The professor seemed a bit dry. He passed out the syllabus — the first actual syllabus I got that wasn’t for a self-paced class — and told us what we would be learning the next 12 weeks. As I looked at the syllabus, I couldn’t help but notice college professors don’t mess around. I liked this — it was so different from high school, where teachers always had to review stuff for people who hadn’t understood it the previous day.

After Biology, I went back to my dorm room, talked to Sherri a little bit, relaxed, then got ready for bed. Luckily my first class tomorrow wasn’t until 9:30 — English 104, so I had plenty of time to get ready, go eat, then find class.

Day 2

I woke up at 7:30 am. I got in the shower before Sherri or my suite mates, Andrea and Kim. I was dressed and out the door by 8:15, with enough time eat breakfast before my English class. Breakfast was the same as the previous day — grits, with my choice of bacon or sausage, and hashbrowns. I chose the sausage this time. After eating breakfast and talking with some of the other residents, I was on my way to Founder’s Hall for my English class.

In the English class, the professor introduced herself. Her name was Dr. Rooks. She was slightly English-looking, but had no accent. I found out later she was from the United States, but had gotten her PhD in England, which explained the English look she had about her. I also found out her husband is English. She told us what we could expect that semester. We would be reading different passages and writing about them. The focus would be on writing for different audiences. I wondered how I would do in this class — English had always been one of my strong points, but this was college work. Would I do okay? Suddenly I wasn’t sure.

After that it was onto my next class — History. When the history professor came in the room, I found out his name was Dr. King. He looked like a war veteran, or at least like he had been around a while. His hair was grey, and he walked with a slight limp. He walked in the room and started lecturing about something I had absolutely no idea about. He didn’t tell us his name until someone asked him, and didn’t tell us anything about the class until almost the end of the period, when he told us we’d have a test every week on the chapter we were supposed to have read. Oh great. This guy was going to lecture about something different every time, but he expects us to read the book and know the information? I had a feeling I would be dropping this class.

My next, and last class of the week, was College Life. This was a one-day-a-week course designed to help incoming Freshman get familiar with the campus and with college life in general. I took it because I thought it was a “bird” course that would help my GPA. I was wrong. It appeared to be an easy course, yes, but I wouldn’t receive a letter grade, so it had no impact on my GPA.

That’s what my first week of college was like. I still hadn’t had one class, and that was my Biology lab. I would take that the following Tuesday. In the meantime, I went to the student store and purchased the rest of the books I needed, then went back to the dining hall and ate lunch. After lunch I called the administration building to find out how I did on my tests to place out of French. Good news, I had done well enough to place out of the first four semesters! That mean I could completely bypass the 100 and 200 level classes and start right out taking 300 level classes, yay! I went to the administration building and filled out the drop form, but by then the French professor’s office hours were over for the day, so I would have to go see him on Monday.

The rest of the semester passed by quickly. Days passed with me attending classes, working on assignments, getting involved in groups like the University Programming Board and Student Alumni Association. And of course, I dropped History, exchanged my French 101 course for French 301, and, with a lot of help from my math instructor, managed to carry over my math class. I got As and Bs in the rest of my classes, except for College Life, which was pass/fail. That meant I made Dean’s List my first semester!

My first semester of college was over. Time to go home, enjoy the holidays, and rest up before the next semester started…