Checking in!

Parent Cafe
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<p>As inspired by zoosermom, nysmile, and a few other parents who reminded me today that I was missed. I am sitting in my kitchen at home (on spring break), waiting for dinner to finish cooking (I relieved my parents of the cooking tonight!).</p>

<p>A quick, understated and very brief sum-up of my first semester.</p>

<p>I took Political Science, English, (remedial) math, Freshman Seminar, and Psychology. I came out with…<em>drumroll</em></p>

<p>All A’s and a B+ in remedial math.</p>

<p>And here’s the kicker. Since remedial math doesn’t count towards graduation or GPA, I “officially” achieved a 4.0 for my first semester in college.</p>

<p>My roommates and a few of our dorm mates have become my best friends. I really lucked out with my roommates…we spend nearly all of our time together and have yet (knock on wood) to have a large fight. While none of us are living in the same room next year (we’ve decided we’ll be better friends when we don’t actually have to live together ;)), we are all living in the same building. In fact, this is how it’s going to work out:</p>

<p>On the end is a group of girls who currently live next door and up the stairs to us. My current roommate will be living with them as well, since one of their roommates is living with a different group of her friends (no hard feelings, just a different taste of friends). In the room next to them is our best male friend (no romantic involvement with anyone, as he’s openly gay). I am his other neighbor, with 5 of my friends. We don’t know who my other next-door neighbor is. My last suitemate will be across the courtyard from us! :slight_smile: Note: none of this was planned, but at the end of the day as we were going over building assignments (the system is set up on a lottery basis), this was the conversation:</p>

<p>“You’re living in Building X? Me too! What room? OH MY GOODNESS YOU’RE MY NEIGHBOR!”</p>

<p>Times like…3. :)</p>

<p>My classes this semester are quite a bit harder. Macroeconomics (a very interesting class considering the economic climate), Philosophy (kind of a “joke” class, and most others agree with me…we haven’t learned a thing about philosophy yet), Freshman Seminar (it’s a year-long program), Cultural Anthropology, Psychology of Marriage, Family and Intimate Relationships (by far my favorite class) and Chicano and Latin Studies. I doubt I’ll pull off the 4.0 again (really now, let’s be realistic)…I’ll be happy with a 3.0 to keep my good student discount on car insurance. :)</p>

<p>I do still get homesick sometimes, which is mainly when I come on CC. But I’m having a wonderful time and, yes, am extremely confident that I made the perfect choice in Sonoma. </p>

<p>I do feel that I’m sort of at the point where I’m just ready for the year to be over. I’m ready to come home for the summer. Thankfully, there are only four weeks of school left and then finals and I’ll be home!</p>

<p>Thank you all for your continued support. Reading your stories is a huge upper to me when I’m having a hard day, even though I rarely respond anymore. I think of you all often. :)</p>

<p>Also, if any of you know anyone considering Sonoma, please feel free to PM me. I’d love to show them around campus.</p>

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<p>Congratulations on a successful first year.</p>

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<p>So glad to hear everything is going well! Thank you for the update.</p>

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<p>I’m so glad to hear how well you’re doing. I was absolutely sure that would be the case.</p>

<p>Do you have fabulous plans for the summer?</p>

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<p>What a great first semester you’ve had. And next year seems to be shaping up pretty well in terms of housing and roommates, too. Thanks for sharing the good news.</p>

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<p>Well, since you were never shy about asking for advice on CC, I absolutely knew that the only reason we hadn’t heard from you was because you were handling everything so well, and that you didn’t need to consult with us :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for updating your cc “family” ! :slight_smile: Great to hear from you</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the replies everyone!</p>

<p>As for plans for the summer…</p>

<p>I am going to see No Doubt, Paramore and The Sounds in concert in Irvine. As soon as I found out my best guy friend (mentioned in the OP) told me that he had always loved No Doubt as well, so we decided to splurge and go. My parents were even willing to split and pay for half of the ticket with me ($90 for amazing seats…right in the middle of the arena).</p>

<p>Other than that, lots of hanging out with my newly-liberated-from-high-school friends. Some of my closest friends are a year younger than me (because of being so involved with activities like choir, which aren’t separated by grade), so coordinating schedules this year has been a little rough. It’ll be much better when we’re all in the CSU system together (though they don’t always coordinate either).</p>

<p>We’re also trying to coordinate a road trip to visit one of my current roommates in Folsom, her hometown. She is trying to come down to SoCal at some point, but having some trouble working out the particulars. The disneyland trip we all wanted to take has already been shot down due to lack of funds. Isn’t it amazing how we never realize how expensive these things are when mom and dad are footing the bill?</p>

<p>I’m going to try to get a job at some point, but I have a feeling it’ll be tricky with the way the job market is at the moment. Worst-case scenario, I’ll go to a temp agency and hope for some data entry work (I type about 85-90 WPM…thanks mom!).</p>

<p>I’ve stopped buying soda and have become obsessed with my roommate’s Brita pitcher. I may even buy one of my own next year. Crystal Lite is my new addiction. I do admit that I’m still a coffee addict. Though as my dad says, “It’s not coffee with all the ‘stuff’ you put in there” (I’m also a Coffeemate addict…French Vanilla!). But try waking up for that 8 AM Econ class (yes, I’m crazy) without it? No thank you!</p>

<p>Have I mentioned how fantastic Sonoma is?</p>

<p>Their Customer Service department rocks. Every email I have sent them has received a response within 48 hours (unless sent Friday afternoon, in which case I almost always get a response on Monday morning). The teachers are incredibly understanding (for the most part) if you need to miss a class, and most of the classes are so small that the teacher actually knows your name. And most of the students are incredibly friendly.</p>

<p>Oh. And the dorms. THE DORMS ROCK OUT LOUD. </p>

<p>Next year I am moving into the brand-spankin’-new Tuscany Village. We will be the first residents ever. It’s going to be amazing. And I’m getting a single bedroom. :)</p>

<p>Go Seawolves!</p>

<p>My only complaint is that budget cuts are the devil. SSU is currently having to enact a unit restriction on registration to make sure all the classes are full.</p>

<p>First “pass”, we can only sign up for 9 units. Second “pass”, 16. Open Registration (which doesn’t require an appointment and is basically a giant free-for-all), 20.</p>

<p>ugh. It makes me want to write angry letters to the Governator.</p>

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<p>Glad you are doing well, HisGraceFillsMe.</p>

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<p>Wonderful update! Keep up the good work.</p>