Cornell, At Last!

Today I finally slept in! I didn't have to wake up until 9 o'clock because I was already packed. After a quick shower, Carla and I gathered our luggages and met with everyone else in the lobby. Next door to the Drake is a coffee shop, so we all got something to drink. Then we were allowed to go explore/shop Chicago for an

Farewell, Chicago!

hour and a half. We all went to Walgreens first to get some souvenirs and then we went to Topshop before splitting up. Jun, Kevin, Natalie and I went to H&M while Sue and Carla went to the mall down the street. I tried clothes on, but I wasn't in a shopping mood.

A Chicago delicacy 

We all met back up at 11:50 AM to eat lunch, more specifically, to eat a Chicago deep dish pizza. We ordered a cheese pizza and a supreme pizza. The pizza was great, a whole layer was just sausage! I must admit I definitely over indulged, but I'm not complaining. It did take around 45 minutes to get our food, however, which meant we had to rush back to the hotel to make our shuttle at 1:30 PM.

Luckily, we got there right on time and off to O'Hare airport we went to fly to Philadelphia and finally to Ithaca, NY. There was a lot of traffic on the way to the airport so we once again had to rush to get our bags checked. Once we were past security we grabbed some drinks and boarded our plane.

We arrived in Philadelphia at 7 o'clock--losing one hour with the time change... a little fun fact: I hate that. Anyway, our flight wasn't until 9:30 PM and we were all feeling a little hungry, and when I say a little I mean barely. But this was going to be our last meal for the rest of the day so we all ate until we were completely full.

The plane to Ithaca was the smallest I've ever been on with only 9 rows of seats. I sat next to a friendly man, who happened to be a professor of engineering. He was interested in our trip and our adventure so far. I love nice people.

Our small plane to Ithaca

We landed in Ithaca around 10:30 PM. Mr. Chan-Law retrieved our rental van and we were at Mary Donlon by 11 o'clock. I found out my dorm room was on the second floor (204). It is located at the very end of one of the halls on my floor. I will not meet my roommate until tomorrow, but I know her name is Elizabeth as it is posted outside of our door. I quickly unpacked everything: my clothes, shoes, school supplies, etc. We had to check-in in the lounge at midnight. We will have nightly check-ins from now on.(11:00 PM on weekdays and 12:00 PM on weekends).

My room door

I met a girl with my name spelled Kaitlyn, but she goes by Katie. I was happy to find out she's also enrolled in the Hotel Management class so now I know three other people in the class (Jun, Katie and another girl I briefly met at the check-in named Mandi, pardon my spelling, from China). She's from L.A., so yay a fellow Californian! I would love to say more, but I must go to sleep. I'm so glad I met someone already though!

My dorm

Today's blog isn't too detailed due to the fact that, besides shopping, we were mostly traveling. I would like to add how I'm currently feeling, however. I'm incredibly nervous--nervous for several reasons: whether I'll easily make friends, whether I'll succeed in class or whether I can stand being so far from home (I don't really have a choice, but I'm homesick). That being said, I can't wait to learn and experience the real college life... Tomorrow is our orientation. I will be getting a roommate and I'll be branching out, expanding my horizons. Tomorrow is the start of a new adventure in my life, one that will inevitably change my future path. And regardless of my apprehensions I will make the best of every minute of it.