Advice For Starting Over...And Excuses

I move in tomorrow!  

I am ashamed, because I haven't written for over a week.  But next Monday, next Monday I will buckle down and start up my schedule again.  I'm so close to being done.  So close.  I wanted to be finished before the beginning of the semester, but you know I am terrible with goals.  I'm not planning (but maybe it will spontaneously happen) to write between Thursday and Sunday. Those are the last free days before classes start.  

For those of you who have not gone to college yet, I think it would be wise to invest your energy upon moving-in to mingle as much as possible.  Don't put anything else on your schedule.  I can tell you it would be the biggest mistake ever to choose those precious days to be shy.  Say hi to everybody.  You won't look dumb, I promise.  And if you still feel self-conscious, think of it this way: you probably won't ever see that person again anyway if you don't want to.  I go to a college of close to 40,000.  It's pretty easy to avoid people you've had awkward encounters with.  

Go to as many activities as you can find.  Try something new.  Go to a frat party.  I'm not advocating on my blog for you to get drunk, but if you do, PLEASE DO NOT: a) drive; b) puke in someone else's bathroom; c) puke in someone else's bed; d) puke on someone else; e) get so wasted you have to go to the hospital; f) get a drinking ticket; g) have sex and fail to remember it in the morning.  I have not done any of those things, and you shouldn't either.  But I am not the guardian of your morals.  Also, let it be known that nobody is going to force you to drink, so for heavens' sake, don't feel pressured.  

Don't be embarrassed if you can't remember someone's name.  After a few days (hours, actually), the blur of faces becomes too much.  I stop trying.  Once, my roommate and I were out at night, and we met these nice guys at a party.  We hung out for probably around five or six hours, and at the end, I somehow managed to screw up their names.  But it was okay because we're still good friends now.  No harm done.  (For the record, most people tend to remember my name because it's so weird.)

My creative writing teacher (from summer) is the nicest person ever and mailing my portfolio, plus extensive comments to my dorm next week.  I'm excited.  Feedback!

Also, you should know that college is probably the only period in your life where getting mail will bump up your self-esteem.  Getting packages = even better.  Getting packages with food = I am the most popular person on the planet.  You should probably coerce your parents to mail you a lot.  Or friends.  Or teachers.  Because it's a sad day when you walk down to your mail box and it's empty.  It pretty much means you're unloved.