During these past two days, I did nothing but party all night long. Thursday was Amy's surprise graduation held by the lovelyyy Xin, and yesterday was Denise's Luau-themed graduation party. Those two days were filled with laughter, joy, and catching up with amazing high school friends.Amy's surprise graduation party
I have to admit, Xin's skill of barbecuing was pure art. Okay, I can't really be a judge since I didn't eat the chicken bbq, but the veggie burgers were delish! The original plan of me arriving with the graduate didn't work out because of her parents insisting on eating dinner as a family before her parents leave for the cruise, but then we still surprised her when she arrived...about two hours later. We stayed until dark playing games, catching up with everyone and just having a good time. I really hope I will see everyone again sometime during/after college. I'm going to miss you guys!
Denise's graduation party
I don't even know where to start! The location was beautiful: right by a lake. There were white Christmas lights lighting up the place as well as strobe lights and a disco ball. The tables were decorated with goldfish (yes, live!) swimming amuck in a glass bowl as well as underwater animal floaties. That party is probably going to be the last party where I'm dancing like an idiot with my high school friends, but I hope I'm wrong. Denise, the hostess, dressed up as a mermaid while I attempted the Hawaiian look with my floral dress. I hope I passed, haha. The food was all prepared by Denise's mom, and I had the time of my life eating and dancing. Of course there was the Electric Slide, the Macarena, and the more modern music like Usher's "Oh My God." There was a little boy who's definitely going to win some dance contests with his moves; we were all shocked! It was adorable though. At the party, I learned how much I forgot German (basically everything) when I talked to someone who just came from Germany. I really need to brush up on it at college; at least I took level 1 haha. Ein, zwei, drei...
It was great seeing everyone again; it was like prom with the dancing, but more craziness and definitely less stressful. I took home some luau necklaces, a dolphin and fish floaty and a bubble blower!
I just came back from the Philly send-off for Syracuse, and I'm now 2x more ecstatic for orientation. It's an annual event for incoming Syracuse freshmen hosted to welcome them into the 'Cuse family and to offer any advice and answer questions. I went with one of my best friends Chris (Unruffled Feathers), expecting many awkward moments, good food and incoming freshmen. The food "buffet" was disappointing, and there were quite a lot of awkward "uhhh" moments, but I'm certainly glad that I went...especially with a friend. I sat near an alumni who works for Comcast and was constantly reminded of how Newhouse has connections that will always help you when it comes to job hunting after you graduate, which is great to know. The alumni and current students who attended were so helpful, offering tips and assurance that I will do well in college.
- Don't take freshman year too seriously. Many people repeated this tip numerous times, and I'm glad that the transition from high school to college wouldn't be as bumpy.
- Don't be disappointed if you don't get a paid internship this upcoming summer. I'm going to compete against sophomores and juniors, so unless I have an extremely impressive resume, I shouldn't get my hopes up. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't try my best.
- Be involved in clubs or attend events that you wouldn't typically go to. Good tip! I'm definitely planning to join in a lot of clubs that I would've normally never even considered in high school, such as Mock Trial. Hopefully it'll be an interesting, fun and diverse freshman year for me.
- Don't travel in groups of more than 4 or 5 friends. Apparently we'll get called out from the upperclassman driving or walking by; definitely do NOT want that to happen.
- Don't drink on your floor, unless you're cool with your RA...because you will get caught. Not that I plan to do this but...good to know?
At the end, the President of the Philly Alumni Club announced the 4 winners of the scholarship awards, one of them being Chris! I am so unbelievably proud of her and the magazine she created. She wrote that as a philanthropist, she will donate her time and money towards the BP oil spill disaster because she believes that everyone should help preserve the environment. She undoubtedly deserved the $500.
To wrap it all up, the alumni decided to hold a 'Cuse trivia game, which I definitely need to brush up on. He had an awesome orange foam finger that I really wanted, but it was a sports question that I had no idea what the answer was. At least I know it exists, and that it's sold in the Syracuse bookstore. I'm definitely going on a bookstore shopping spree. I need t'shirts, sweatshirts, foam fingers, mugs...the list goes on!
the foam finger!
