{"id":14,"date":"2021-09-01T17:45:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T17:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/?p=14"},"modified":"2021-09-01T17:45:41","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T17:45:41","slug":"let-me-formally-introduce-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/2021\/09\/01\/let-me-formally-introduce-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Me Formally Introduce Myself…"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

I\u2019m Abbie and I\u2019m from Summit, New Jersey. I grew up in New Jersey but lived in Portland, Oregon from age 10-18. I graduated in the high school class of 2020, however, due to the pandemic, I spent the last year working part-time in a boutique in my town but also freelanced jobs on the side. My gap year has been one of the most informative and worthwhile decisions I\u2019ve ever made, and while I wouldn\u2019t change it for the world, I\u2019m twice as excited to get to Iowa this year.

Many people raise an eyebrow when I say I\u2019m going to Iowa. Being from the coasts, people struggle to understand the appeal of the midwest. I have such a fond connection to the genuine, down-to-earth people that are from the midwest, and I found that Iowa had everything I wanted. From the strong school spirit to the kind people, I knew this was the place I wanted to be. I\u2019m planning on studying marketing at Tippie College of Business with a minor in something film-related!

This past week I moved into Catlett, and moving in was a big change for me. Growing up, I could barely attend sleepovers, let alone swallow the thought of being on my own for months at a time. Many kids my age may feel the same way, and that\u2019s totally normal (or at least that\u2019s what my parents tell me)! Trust me, there were quite a few tears as I said bye to my parents, but I was thrust into this new world of independence along with 5000+ of my friends.

Here are a couple of things I took note of when moving in:

1. Everyone is in the same situation as you; use that to your advantage.<\/strong>
Moving into the dorms may feel uncomfortable and nerve-wracking, but I promise, everyone feels the same way (sometimes some people are just better at hiding it). You can really lean into the discomfort of that situation and make the most of it by stopping someone in the hall to say hi, chat in the elevator, or even sit with someone new in the dining hall.

I will always remember this girl who saw me waiting at the elevator with my parents, took out her AirPods, and said \u201cmoving in today?\u201d We then chatted about where we were from and all the basic small talk you make with someone you\u2019ve just met. That action was so small but so significant to me because of how welcomed she made me feel. It\u2019s easier said than done, but you\u2019ll thank yourself in the long run for sticking your neck out every once in a while.

2. Your door can be a gateway to new friends!<\/strong>
It\u2019s a little bit clich\u00e9, but I 100% recommend setting aside time to hang out in your room with your roommate with the door propped open. Walking through my dorm, other Hawkeyes left their doors open and made my roommate and I feel so welcome to just pop in and say hi. So, ultimately when we got back to our room, we did the same! On my first night, I had already met quite a few kids who I was able to get to know and make my dorm feel a little bit more like home.

3. Saying goodbye to your parents is hard, but it\u2019s best to just rip the bandaid off\u2026<\/strong>
I have a very close relationship with my family, so leaving them was really hard. At the end of the day, the hardest part was anticipating them to leave. It was like a looming feeling that I couldn\u2019t shake, but once we said our goodbyes and they hit the road, I felt almost empowered to get back to my room to hang out with my roommate and meet other floormates. We\u2019re all in this together.

4. Say YES!<\/strong>
Now, I\u2019m not making any promises that any lingering feelings of homesickness will go away overnight. It may take a couple of days or weeks, but one thing I\u2019ve found to be enormously helpful is staying busy. While I still miss my parents and younger sister, being out-and-about has made Iowa City feel more and more like home. Making sure you\u2019re meeting new friends, discovering new places on campus, and just saying yes as much as possible, helps a ton. If you\u2019re still struggling with being away from home, Iowa has quite a few resources to help with that, as well. There are plenty of people who are there to help you; from your RA to free University counseling services, someone is there to listen and help.

Every OnIowa leader I\u2019ve come across (whether it be moving in, navigating campus, or leading classes) has been extraordinarily kind, helpful, and making this transition as smooth as possible. Moving in is a different experience for everyone. It\u2019s important to do whatever will make you feel best, and stick with it. It\u2019s only up from here! As always, go Hawks!! <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m Abbie and I\u2019m from Summit, New Jersey. I grew up in New Jersey but lived in Portland, Oregon from age 10-18. I graduated in the high school class of 2020, however, due to the pandemic, I spent the last year working part-time in a boutique in my town but also freelanced jobs on the side. My gap year has been one of the most informative and worthwhile decisions I\u2019ve ever made, and while I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/abbie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}