Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been battling homesickness since I got here, but the awesome Towering Traditions orientation program kept me busy and introduced me to some awesome people. Since my classes have started and I have my own little routine going, Belmont is truly becoming my second home away from home.

An odd series of events lead up to my choice of Belmont. I knew I wanted to go down south to college, and I was looking at other schools in the Nashville area. So one day, I was watching an interview on CMT with Josh Turner (who is amazing!) and he mentioned that he had gone to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. I figured I’d look at it and lo and behold, here I am today!

Most of my friends back home on Long Island (NY) have never heard of this school. Well actually, the reason some people actually have heard of it was because the basketball team made the NCAA tournament last year. Other than that, they assume I am going to a race track for college. Belmont Stakes is a racetrack on Long Island. So, when I tell people where I am actually going, Nashville Tennessee, they think I am half insane going so far away for college. But there is no other place that I would rather go to school. Belmont has just felt right since the first time I visited campus as a junior in high school, beginning the daunting task of deciding where I will spend at least four years of my life.

Classes started about two weeks ago now. My first class was Art History, and I was a little intimidated because I think I am the only freshman in the class. Turns out I was afraid for no reason; everybody was nice and welcoming and it didn’t matter that we were in different grades or anything. That’s another cool thing about life here at Belmont, everybody is really nice. Don’t get me wrong, back home people weren’t rude by any means, but it seems like people here go out of their way to help you and just say hi and smile when you walk by. At first it was a little disquieting; why is everybody so nice? I’ve come to realize that people are just like that here. I am not complaining in the slightest.

So yeah, getting back to classes. I had my first test the other day, in religion, which will probably turn out to be one of my hardest classes being I have never studied the Bible before. I probably studied 5 hours for that one test, sadly more than I spent studying for any other test in my entire life. The test went better than I thought though, so I guess all of my studying paid off! One of my favorite classes is probably my first year seminar. Mine is entitled Collision of Culture, and it should be a good topic, and it looks like the booklist is interesting and what I would read whether I was in that class or not. Plus, most of us knew each other from our TT (towering traditions) group the first week here. It is nice walking into a class filled with familiar faces every once in a while!

Other than classes, I made the Belmont Forensics/Debate Team. It should be a good time; I was involved in the law department in my high school, and Foresicss should be a good way to build on those skills and meet more people at the same time. The convocation credit programs are pretty cool as well. My favorite program so far was probably the lecture given on the conflict in the Middle East. There is always something awesome going on on campus, so there is no excuse for boredom! Although that makes finding a time for a nap a challenge, I am often having to choose between a new exciting event or a nap. That is when no classes on weekends come in handy. Last weekend I think I slept until noon. I can’t say I’ve ever managed that before. But hey, that’s college!

So now it is time for movie night with my friends in my hall. Welcome to the site; I hope you guys check in often so you can see what life at Belmont is really like!
Bye for now!
Melissa