Maddie's Moments in the First Month of College

Hello everyone! I have been a bit behind on my editing and writing lately due to an eventful couple of months of college move-in, the start of classes, and the first midterm exams. However, I am getting back into editing and sifting through months of photos, so those edits should all be on my Instagram soon. Speaking of which, I am trying to find a user-friendly interface that I can attach to my website to share photos with those who do not have Instagram. It will also serve as a gallery of my work that I hope to get set up this month, too. That being said, here's what I've been up to this month!

Moving in: On August 9, 2024, I packed up my life in my dad's Honda Pilot and then we were on the road to Tennessee. After spending the night in Knoxville and touring the University of Tennessee in the morning, we were off to Atlanta! That weekend, I spent most of my time unpacking, setting up my room, and shopping for essentials before my family left on Sunday. This was a weekend full of emotion, a sad but exciting change in my life.

Then commenced "Week of Welcome" at Georgia Tech, the first week of social events and mixers for freshmen. It was a very busy, very long week, but the friends I made here are lasting friendships. On the Sunday before classes started, we had T-night/Convocation, which is an assembly-type event that welcomes all first-year students to campus and teaches them about Georgia Tech traditions.

Finally, the first week of class begins August 19th. This was definitely a busy and stressful week, but it was fun to go to class with friends and meet my professors. Our first real weekend at Tech, we got together, dressed up, and played games in the lobby of our apartment. School got real, I joined some clubs (Association of Environmental Scientists and Engineers, Urban Agriculture, etc), and started attending sustainability-related campus events.

Some fun weekend activities included the Indiana Fever x Atlanta Dream game, many GT Volleyball games, Six Flags Over Georgia GT Night, a visit to the Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, FDR State Park for the EAS camping trip, completing a Murph challenge, and swimming in the '96 Olympic Pool.

Some not-so-fun week day activities included the weekly 3-5 hour chemistry lab, exam weeks with presentations and essays too, printer break-downs, running late to class, and homework into the wee hours of the morning. But we're still succeeding and having fun, and that's what matters! The nighly gym visit and family dinners help too.

More updates to follow :) Look out for my next blog post towards the end of the semester.

Also, this is a work-in-progress but here's my Lightfolio Link: https://maddiesmoments.lightfolio.com/

This should take you to a gallery of my images and serve as a more user-friendly interface instead of social media.

Goodbye for now!

My best always,

Maddie