Blog 1

       After getting accepted into college, I thought the hard part was over. I couldn’t have been more wrong. One of the most trying experiences a college freshman will face (especially a female freshman) is fitting everything needed for your apartment into the car. 13 boxes, 3 plastic tubs, and 4 suitcases later the mini van was stuffed to the brim. Driving up 95, I was so ready to spend Saturdays at the Met, go running in Central Park, and eat at an eclectic restaurant near my apartment in midtown. Behind me were the days of paying $3.50 a gallon for gas, buying things I probably didn’t need at Potomac Mills, and hanging out in someone’s basement every weekend. I had an idealized notion that everything there was just... better.

        After arriving in New York, everything seemed bigger and better. Walking down the street, my eyes were bright and sparkling and I had a smile that threatened to take over my entire face. I remember thinking to myself, I love it here. This is what I always wanted. The click of my heels walking down the pavement on 6th avenue was barely audible over the roar of taxis and food vendors trying to make a sale. Everywhere I looked I saw a famous landmark or a place featured in one of the movies I had devoured when day dreaming about my future. The feeling simply knowing that this was mine, I lived here now, was intoxicating. 

I loved the fact that there were as many people on the sidewalk at midnight as there was in the middle of the afternoon. There was always something to do, things didn’t close at 10! There was 24-hour takeout, movies, diners, and if it got really boring, Times Square was only 5 blocks from my apartment. Everything was perfect, I could wear ridiculous outfits that I could never get away with in Virginia because so many people in New York look like they just fell out of the latest issue of Vogue. 

New York lived up to all my expectations. I had permanent butterflies in my stomach from the constant excitement. I had only been there a week and I had seen a taping of Good Morning America, gotten my picture taken with Daniel Radcliffe, and had Taylor Swift compliment my outfit. Was this real life?

Introduction

Hello everyone!

My name is Amanda H. and I am in my first semester at Northern Virginia Community College. However, this is not my first semester in college. Last year I attended a small private school in Manhattan. As I graduated from high school, I was sure I was ready to get out of Woodbridge and live on my own. I couldn’t wait to live the life I saw in movies and TV shows depicting the glamourous and exciting times awaiting me in New York. Carrie Bradshaw made being a single girl in New York look so exciting, how hard could it be? I thought I was getting to live the fantasy I always wanted, I was ready for a change. I was sick of traffic, of seeing the same people at chipotle week after week, and living in suburban hell where every house on the street looked exactly the same. I was ready to live that life everyone could only dream of in the greatest city in the world. This blog will talk about my experiences in the concrete jungle and compare it to my previous (and once again current) humble suburban upbringing. I will also discuss the differences between a small conservative Christian school and a large, diverse community college. I hope to show you all through first hand experience that sometimes, you had what you wanted all along.