From Check In to Dancing on Day One at Brown

Sharp at 9:00 AM my alarm woke me up. Even though I had only four hours of sleep, I was energized and excited for my first day at Brown University. I quickly got dressed, gathered my belongings, met Ms. Maher, and moved my luggage to Ms. Maher's room. Then Ms. Maher and I headed to Brown, while stopping at Starbucks for a quick morning meal. I got a yummy hot chocolate and a warm blueberry muffin.

After a short walk, we arrived at Brown and were surprised with the large number of students arriving on campus. Soon I checked in and got my lanyard, identification card, dorm key, and a schedule of events arranged for the day. 

A picture with the Brown bear.

11:00 AM, Ms. Maher and I joined a campus tour. Vocky, our campus tour guide, showed us the campus; shared very interesting historical information about some iconic buildings and structures, including the Van Wickle Gates; informed us about the clubs, activities, and events special to Brown; and gave a gist of how the academic system works in Brown. The most impressive and appealing thing that I learned about Brown was that with open curriculum, Brown allows students to build their own education with a few requirements. I was fascinated with the freedom of education offered by Brown. The tour was a great eye-opener to all opportunities available at Brown, which I would have never known about if it wasn't for the Ivy League Connection. After learning so much about Brown, I have started to see it as one of my top choices for college because of the amazing educational freedom. 

After the tour, Ms. Maher and I had a long conversation about colleges. After the tour, I started to really think about what characteristics I am looking for in a college.

While chatting, we arrived at the Brown book store. After looking around, I chose a brown  sweatshirt with the Brown name and logo on it. I was very happy with my selection.

My new comfy sweatshirt.

Then we went back to my dorm room and dropped off my sweatshirt and rental fan. We went to lunch with a few of Ms. Maher's relatives. They were all very happy to find out about the summer program I will be attending and very interested to know about the Ivy League Connection. I was more that happy to share my experiences with them. 

Around 3:30 Ms. Maher, and I carpooled with Bob and Ann to go back to Hotel Providence to pick up my luggage. Then I dropped off my belongings in my room and headed for the student orientation.

The student orientation explained the rules and regulations of Brown. The Residential Advisors (RAs)  were introduced to the student body. Each group left with their perspective RA to enjoy the rest of the activities. With RA Hannah, my group left the Salomon building. Before going to dinner, we played a small game in which we drew on the ground with chalk to describe ourselves or just to be artistic. We got to know each others names and interests while sharing our creations. My group is very culturally diverse. There are students from Greece, Turkey, China, Puerto Rico, different parts of the United States, and other parts of the world. The diversity is amazing. In this activity, I became friends with Andrea, who has come from Puerto Rico. She is a really sweet person and I know we are going to have an awesome time together at Brown. 

Some of the creations. The beautiful tree has been drawn by Jackie. The not-so-artistic blue drawing of a racket, a tennis ball, a photograph, a stick figure with long hair and glasses, and a rose has been drawn by me. The purple drawing  of a computer, paint brush, the moon, stars, flowers, a potion, and "hola" is designed by Andrea.

Then we all headed to the stuffy, hot Verney-Woolley Dining Hall. Today's dinner wasn't that great. There was an option of pasta, veggie sandwiches, and salad. I didn't really enjoy any of the dishes and nor did Andrea seem to like them. Tomorrow I plan to check out the other dinner halls with my new friends. 

After dinner, Jackie, Andrea, and I started to walk around and explore areas near the campus. We shared a lot about ourselves and got to know each other. In our threesome group, it is so cool how my ethnicity is Indian, Andrea is Puerto Rican, and Jackie is half Indian and have Puerto Rican. 

From left to right: me, Andrea, and Jackie.

Soon we walked back to attend the activities fair. We got to know about a lot of the activities available on campus. We had a lot of fun walking around and talking to Brown students who run various activities. Frisbee, badminton, and water balloon games were also going on. 

The Activities Fair

Sometimes one has to try something different and new. That is what the three of us did. In a huge dance party, we joined in and started dancing. Even though my legs were tired from walking around the whole day and I am not a great dancer, I danced wholeheartedly and had a lot of fun.

A huge dance party.

After the fair was over, Jackie, Andrea, and I returned to our dorms. It turned out that Andrea's dorm was right next to ours. While chatting, I got to know a lot about them. It was crazy when I found out that Jackie is only a day younger than me. Jackie and Andrea were very fascinated with my blogs and the Ivy League Connection. Soon we headed to a mandatory floor meeting with our RA. 

My first day at Brown was awesome! I met very nice and friendly ladies who have become great friends. I can't wait to have a blast with them and meet other students. For now, I am nervous and excited for my first day of class tomorrow.