First Day 7/11/2001
Originally, the plan was to write in a diary while I was on the trip, and then transfer everything to my computer diary. Honestly, I wrote so much, I don't have time to type everything up. Also, I found that writing in an actual diary can sometimes be more cathartic than writing in this one. I know that no-one is reading my other diary, so no-one can pass judgement or make opinions about my feelings. Then again, on this diary I have dozens of people trying to cheer me up when they don't even know me...Anyway...I'll just do a short summary.
This whole trip was called the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC). The Medicine and Healthcare program that I attended was held in Fairfax, Virginia.
My roommate was a very religous Muslim named Salma. For those of you who don't know this, Muslims and Jews tend to hate each other. It's like the Irish and the British. Anyway, I will admit that I was prejudiced against Muslims; in some ways I still am. However, I must admit that Salma was a very sweet, considerate girl and a very good roommate. We got along pretty well; she's going to my sister's college this fall.
The first day wasn't terrible. I got a little lost in Ronald Reagan Airport trying to find the NSLC people. I met this black girl as I was going onto the bus. Her name was Jessie and she was from New Jersey. We were the only two northerners on the bus. She had been on my plane coming to D.C., but I didn't know this until she told me. Jessie sat in back of me on the bus and another black girl from San Antonio, Texas sat next to me. Yes, I will admit to being prejudiced against blacks. My mom and dad grew up in the Bronx and Queens, respectively, and had had very bad experiences with black people. There are really no blacks in my school to disprove what my parents have told me. Anyway, Tammy from Texas, Jessie and I all started talking. I like those two better than most white people that I've met. We got split up when we got our dorm assignments, so I didn't get to see them until later. We we did find each other again (both Tammy and Jessie were on my floor) we rook Salma along and explored the beautiful campus together.
My first night there was horrendous. My suitemates were...unusual. One was from Spain named Isabel, who I liked a lot. The other suitemate, Jodi was ok...She was so nice to me in he room, but once we were outside, she kind of just brushed me off. Anyway, the first nigh Salma and I had dinner with Isabel and Jodi and her friends. (Jodi's the type of girl who makes friends so incredibly quickly...maybe it's a Maine thing...The other three boys that were from Maine were very popular in the program...) Jodi's friends were all from the aouth, and just very bitchy. By the end of the night I realized how segregated this program was going to be. The southern belles ignored me, Salma, and Isabel. I walked out of there feeling like crap.
All of the people there were split up into groups of 15-20 people with one head counselor called a TA. This TA was in charge of all of our activities; we spent most of the trip with our TA and our TA group. My group had 16 people; 5 boys, 11 girls, 3 northerners, a westerner, and 10 southerners. I wasn't the happiest person in the world with my TA group.
My TA was named Alex (from Texas). He was good-looking, funny; charming, and he attended the UNiversity of Pennsylvania. He didn't seem to like me too much. Most guys who fit that description (just generally cool guys) don't go for people like me.
There were these two southern girls named Kaitlin and Stephanie in my TA group from South Carolina and Miami, respectively. They reminded me of the girls in "Bring It On." They were very friendly (towards southerners), perky, giggly, blonde, the whole deal. Other people who liked these girls even agreed that they were the "cheerleader types." No offense to cheerleaders, it's just a phrase. Alex loved those two girls.
There were two girls in my group I became friends with later on: Rumou aka "Ro" from China, and Karen from Indiana. One of the guys from Maine, Ian, also became my friend later into the trip. He's a human stick, I swear. Funny as hell though. He's also pretty weird and hyper. (He's also lived all over the world, which would explain for his weirdness...) When we were sitting down in a circle and announcing an odd fact about us, Ian chose to announce that he takes Ridalin. We became friends three days later. I dunno, odd ones stick together I guess. The really hot guys went for Kaitlin and Steph, which really didn't help my self-esteem all that much. Yeah...so this is all in the first day...
I'll write more later
Artist
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