Wow, first post. Ok, let’s go.

Some stuff to know about me: I hail a little south of the border from California(although I’m a Canadian citizen 🙂 ), I’m a first year in applied science and I’m crazy excited to be here in Vancouver studying at UBC. Although I suspect that at around halfway through the semester I’ll reach that point where school just makes me want to curl up into a fetal position and stay that way, hah.

The past few months of waiting to come here to UBC felt a lot like being Harry Potter waiting to get on the Hogwarts Express. I spent weeks Googling what the dorms and campus looked like, I scoured the internet for anything and everything about UBC, I joined Facebook groups, just to get a glimpse of my future peers. But once I actually started to pull out of the driveway and turn the corner I realized, I’m not coming home for the next four months. Then I started to feel a little more like Bilbo Baggins, reluctantly leaving the comfort of home to go on an adventure where I’m not exactly sure what I signed up for, although I know something great lies ahead. Except I don’t have a band of dwarves to accompany me. Or Gandalf to guide me.

I think the one thing, though, is that people never really talk about the separation from your parents. My family had to leave about a week ago since my little brother began school last Tuesday. I’ve been staying with a family friend for the past few days and they’ve been like my surrogate family. But nothing, and I mean nothing really substitutes having Mom there to tell you where you left that one shirt you really love, or having Dad there to bail you out when there’s a spider in your room and you’re freaking out about what to do. To make it worse, every time I skype with them all they do is just show me all the good food they’re eating as incentive for me to come home earlier over the winter holidays -_-

Leaving the nest isn’t so much like being a bird, spreading your wings for the first time as you soar through the skies, but more like being a freshly hatched sea turtle, dragging yourself through the sand as you claw your way into the ocean for the first time. But, man, I gotta tell you– ocean water tastes awesome.