With graduation vastly approaching, I wanted to reminisce on the past four years of my life. SO MUCH has happened and changed, it's hard to even explain without starting from square one.. freshman year.
I started off my college career at the University of South Carolina. I was born and raised a Gamecock fan. I moved into South Tower, an all girls dorm, and lived in this corner room - which was actually much bigger than I ever expected a college dorm to be.
My freshman roommate was Jennifer, we hung out a good bit when school first started. Making friends started off slow, but we slowly transitioned into college living. It's funny now to think back on how afraid I was to step out and meet new people. I made a few friendships by living in the dorm, but one really stuck - and that is with my sweet friend Sara who will now be in my wedding!
I went to every Carolina home game, always dressed in my garnet and black. If you would have told me that I'd end up at Clemson, I would've laughed. I loved being close to home and I loved being with a good many of my friends from high school. It was comforting and it was what I knew, no real change.
I went to the SC State Fair with a few of my best friends at the time. I spent the majority of my time with the same group of people, some from high school and some who were new friends of my friends.
Some home games were graced by the presence of my best friends from high school. We all seemed to go separate directions. Marlie went to PC, Lauren went to Clemson, and Tay ended up in the upstate as well. I always loved when they'd come to games, because we would always pick up right where we left off.
I trained for a half marathon during the fall semester. I spent many days a week running with a group at Strictly Running and my sweet friend Krista. Krista and I spent many afternoons running that the river walk, she definitely pushed me and helped me to become a runner, when I clearly was not. We made it up to 8 miles one Saturday morning, and later that week it was all I could do to walk on my foot. Turns out I had a baby stress fracture.. so I sported this fashion statement of a shoe.. I've got to mention though, my mom made fun of my grandma shoe, and soon after she fell and broke her ankle. It's funny now when I think back on it, but having a broken foot was no joke!
I may have never missed a Carolina home game, but when USC's games were away I would make my way up to Clemson to a few games and to visit. I hardly ever wore orange.. but I wasn't opposed to the idea. The game atmosphere was vastly different, and I always loved making the trip up to Clemson.
I mentioned earlier that I spent most of my time with the same group of people. Well, these are the people who were my best friends and my tailgating buddies. We always went to the games together, and always managed to sit together. They all made my game day experiences so fun!
Fun fact: I played on a co-ed intramural volleyball team! I seriously don't think we ever won a game.. not a single one. Well.. We may have won one, but that was it! I learned that volleyball just wasn't my thing. But hey, you win some and you lose some. We had fun meeting once a week to play teams who were much better than us.
I threw my mom a surprise 50th birthday party with the help of Paige. That night Paige, Lachlan and I went on a spontaneous trip to Charleston to put our feet in the ocean. That was probably the most spontaneous thing we did that year, definitely one of my favorite memories! We spent the car trip up there and back jamming out to 90's music and telling stories. Side note, Lachlan forgot to wear shoes.. so he walked around the beach in the beginning of January with no shoes!
Another fun fact, I was on a co-ed basketball team. I only went in a few times, but our team ended up making it to the championship game! I was more of the team cheerleader and photographer, no surprises there haha.
I went to my first Carolina Cup experience. I had to borrow a dress and hat, but I was so excited to go with Lachlan. We spent the day walking around and hanging out with random people. I made quite a few friends that day. We ran into a lot of old friends from high school and repped our '09 graduation date, we were so cool I know!
Later on during the spring semester I realized that maybe Carolina wasn't really for me. I talked to Paige and she wanted to try somewhere new, too. We took a trip up to Clemson and the rest is history. We both decided to give it a try, and we also decided to be roommates. Who would've ever known that this would've been a huge turning point for my life's path!
Soon after school ended, I turned 19. I celebrated with my best friends from home, we always made a point to have big birthday dinners and I always looked forward to them.
Freshman year went by extremely quick. College was what I expected, and then it wasn't. I made a few friends, but I didn't make a substantial amount of new ones. However, the few friendships I made at USC have lasted. I wouldn't trade my freshman experience at USC for anything, I learned what I truly wanted in a college experience, and just had to accept that I was going to get that somewhere else. It was a huge step for me, especially moving away from home, but I am so thankful that I decided to transfer to Clemson.
Be on the lookout for a recap of my sophomore year in college. Let me just preface by saying my sophomore year was my biggest year, maybe even one of the biggest turning points in my life. Do I have you hooked now? Haha, I doubt I'm that interesting, but that year was truly one of the best ones to date.
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