It was the day before classes started. I had just gotten back from church, and my roommate asked me if I wanted to tag along to a meeting about the school’s daily newspaper.

To sum up how she persuaded me to go was that if I didn’t want to do any writing then I didn’t have to.

I had previously told myself that I wouldn’t join more than just one activity for at least the first few weeks of my freshman year so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

My roommate and I walked to the meeting after eating lunch and sat down. The meeting started, and we introduced ourselves to the group. After a while I realized that I was one of the only ones that hadn’t volunteered for an article.

By the end of the meeting, in which I was expecting to just be observing, I left with two articles that I would be responsible for over the next two weeks, and a weekly column. So here it is. The start of my adventure into the wild and wondrous world of writing.

As a freshman, I never expected to be so involved before my first day of class, but then again, I would have never guessed anything about how this year would start.

I was just starting to like high school when all of the sudden I was grabbing a piece of paper while wearing a cap and a gown. Now, my first class on Monday morning has 64 people—that’s the size of my entire high school graduating class.

Every day brings a new experience. At my high school I had no doubts about where I fit into any situation. Since coming to Eastern, I’m not fitting in at all.

In fact, I’m standing out. I’m doing things that are so far out of my comfort zone, that I have no clue what the next step is.

Besides my class schedule, everything seems like a surprise to me. Surprise! People are reading a column that I have in a college newspaper.

Surprise! I have 10 minutes to get from one side of campus to the other (which takes me seven minutes and 50 seconds while speed walking). Surprise! The mandatory service project I signed up for was not what the description said.

How could I be upset that things don’t go my way when I could be eating good food on campus or taking a nap in between classes?

I mean, I didn’t get to do that in high school. As it turns out, this new chapter in my life has the potential to be the best one yet. I just have to keep a positive outlook. Keep smiling and waving.

I will take every day as a surprise. I will never completely know what will happen. I’m ready to see what other surprises Eastern throws my way.

Karena Ozier is a freshman elementary education major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at kmozier@eiu.edu.