Finally settled

For most college freshmen, the hardest part of beginning college is moving away from home. For me, it was probably the best part, despite the fact that I moved across the country and two time zones away from my best friends. After an extremely turbulent senior year during which I moved out of my house and into my aunt's living room/foldout couch, I finally felt as though I had a place of my own in a dorm room.

During move-in week, I had a lot of fun decorating my little corner of the room; I'm in a triple room, so I share the room with two other girls. For the first time in about six months, I actually had my own bed. While my roommates were complaining about how small the bed was, or how it wasn't as comfortable as their bed at home, I was silently celebrating the fact that I finally had a bed!

A lot of my friends at college feel like they can't concentrate in their dorm, and they have to go to the library to work on an essay or do homework. Not me. I feel the most comfortable in my room and I actually get my work done better there. This has definitely made the scary "brand new college experience" go a lot more smoothly.

Having my own little section of space gives me the wonderful feeling of being settled. It's a feeling that I've been trying hard to find for a long time. During senior year, I participated in an obscene amount of extra-curricular activities - from debate team to concert choir to being on the newspaper staff, and I spent a lot of time away from home. I have come to realize why I did this. It was because I didn't really feel like I fit in at home. Now I finally feel like I'm exactly where I need to be, and it's an amazing feeling. It's especially comforting when I remember the struggle that was finding the right college for me. I had almost ruled out Chapman when they didn't call me back by March, about the time everyone else was receiving their acceptance letters. I sincerely consider it a sign from God that Chapman Financial Aid called me the night of my graduation from high school in May, wanting to talk about the possibility of me attending Chapman.

I was actually a little sad to leave my dorm for Christmas break. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love visiting my family, but I am unusually anxious to return to Chapman and get back into the swing of things. I remember being a kid and having family ask me what I wanted for Christmas. From the ages of about six to ten, all I wanted were office supplies. I honestly just wanted to sit at a desk that I could call my own and have all of my supplies in one place. I can finally do that, eight years later.

I know that my experience with dorm life is different from most college students, but it's important for me to feel like I belong somewhere. I'm proud of the fact that I was able to find that in the form of a bunk bed and a desk.

Aly Gideon is in her first year as a HELM Leadership Fellow and is a member of Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of the Covenant in Enid, Oklahoma.