The beginning.

On June 5, 2012 my life changed forever. I packed up all of my belongings (well..what I could fit in 3 suitcases) and moved across the country to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was excited to begin this new adventure, but I was also petrified of what my new life would be like. 


Stepping off the plane was a reality check. I mean the humidity just smacks you in the face and you start to sweat..seriously. Born and raised in Arizona, humidity is like an unexplored world..but not here..definitely not in Louisiana! 

The minute I arrived at the Kirby Smith dorm at Louisiana State University, I was greeted with tons of smiling faces that were so calming to my nerves. I had never met any of these people, and yet they treated me as if I had known them for a lifetime. After trucking my multiple suitcases upstairs, I was brought into my dorm room. Oh boy! Let's just say it looks like a jail cell and the bathroom we share with another room doesn't even have a door on it! Nope, not even a door..just a lovely curtain. I was relieved to meet my roommate whom I have previously met through the TFA Facebook..thank goodness! Stephanie and I hit it off immediately, and she is also teaching Elementary. She is from a small town in Tennessee and has a boyfriend back home that she misses (just like me!). My suite mates are also amazing. When I first walked into their vacant room, I saw one of the beds fashioned with an Oklahoma State University blanket. My first thought...oh crap! (Boomer Sooner, baby!). But she did have about a zillion Vera Bradley bags, which made up for it of course. Hanna is a wonderful person from a small town near Stillwater, Oklahoma and will be my school's neighbor teaching Middle School Art and English next year. My other suite mate, Evelyn, is from New York. She is quite the little firecracker and makes me laugh every day. She is originally from Colombia and is teaching High School Spanish. The four of us get along so well and I am so lucky to have been paired up with them. 

My dorm room for the next few days! Woohoo! (not)

That night, TFA planned a dinner for us at the restaurant, Chelsea's. It's this cool little dive that has great beer and food! After dinner we stuck around to meet everyone from our corps as well as second-year, alums, and staff -- There are 73 first-year corps members this year! I never would have thought it would be this easy to make friends. It is so fascinating to meet people from all over the country who share the same passion as you. After meeting so many new people, my new friends and I were absolutely exhausted, so we came back to our dorm and CRASHED.