Gamecock Nation, Day 1

Having been back in NC, and hanging around the old homestead for all of...6 days, we began to feel a bit antsy, and needed to travel some more, so we packed our bags and hit the road again. Ha! Just kidding...at least about the restless part...Derek and I really did have someplace we needed to go though. This time we'd be heading to the 2-day Freshman Orientation at the University of South Carolina, to learn all the...stuff...we'd need to know as a future Gamecock...and Student Supporter.

Since it's a 200-ish mile drive, we opted to mosey southward on Sunday--which when you think about it, wasn't even really a choice, since the only other scenario had us getting out of bed at like 4 a.m., which is absolutely NEVER going to happen, if either of us have a say in the matter. Besides, Derek was supposed to take his Foreign Language Placement Test that afternoon, so we decided to do it the low-stress way: arrive Sunday, sleep at a nearby hotel, and be well-positioned for a (ridiculously) early start on Monday.

(Bonus: after several visits to campus, we FINALLY found the retail/restaurant hub that had previously eluded us. How did we manage this, you might ask? Why, with dedication, diligence, and exhaustive, time-consuming research, naturally! Okay, I'm just kidding...I literally Googled "Panera" and discovered that it's a half-mile away, down a street we just hadn't happened to explore yet. Now we know that I can, in fact, find something to eat in the area, when we drop off or pick up Derek--yay!)

We still had to set an alarm for Monday, in order to get up earlier than we prefer, but I forgave the Orientation Organizers when they demonstrated the foresight and consideration to place a Starbucks cart directly in front of the check-in line. (Also, the cheerful mobile-barista informed me that it was stocked only with Nitro...their highest-caffeine offering....which I would never normally drink. But I figured, "Eh, what the heck--I'm gonna need it, to be "in class" all day!")

We moved briskly through the very long queue and soon received our packets (neatly contained in a handy dandy reusable grocery bag, to help keep everything together), room assignments for our overnight stay in the dorms, and nametags (with a complimentary lanyard, because as I've learned, USC L-O-V-E-S to give away swag at every opportunity. Oh, yeah, we each got a very nice pen, too. Score!). Then we started our day o'walking with the 10-minute trek to the Colonial Life Arena, for our first few hours of programming. There we heard a little bit...about a lot of topics...including student life, housing, academic support, the university's history and traditions...and, in what was undoubtedly Derek's most anticipated and favorite part, the football culture (with critical information about how to get tickets...plus rousing renditions of cheers, the fight song, and the alma mater. I'm not sure he was fully awake before that point, but he certainly perked up and participated then!).

After all that...unbridled excitement and enthusiasm....we separated into student and parent contingents and broke for lunch, before reuniting to attend the Academic College presentations. For Derek, who hasn't yet declared a major, this meant he'll be under the wing of the College of Arts and Sciences, for now. Unfortunately, the lovely tropical climate of Columbia, SC decided to deliver its customary afternoon downpour at exactly the moment we were all leaving the arena to trudge back up the steep hill to the main part of campus. However, I'd taken the opportunity during the meal hiatus to return to my car anyway...and retrieve my umbrella, so we got...slightly damp, rather than soaked...like others had been, without the benefit of such protection. Anyway, in this session, we got to listen to the First Year Adviser who'll be helping Derek register for his Fall semester of courses tomorrow--so even though we were chilly and wet, this was definitely time well spent.

From there, we had what was described in the introduction as a "choose your own adventure" situation, where you were given the freedom to attend whatever lecture you so desired for two different time slots. Derek and I together sat in on one called Top 5 Ways To Not Fail Out!...which seemed like a no-brainer to me, in terms of the potential to gain applicable advice. Then Derek went off on his own for a tutorial on how to get involved in the USC community (yeah, like THAT'S going to be a problem...but whatever...), and I settled in for the Parents as Partners presentation, given by the Director of New Student Orientation.

And she gave a completely wonderful talk, chock full of valuable insight, delivered with abundant humor and lots of illustrative examples from her own experience working with students. We even had clickers provided us when we entered the auditorium, so we could participate in electronic polls, the results of which she would then show on the screen and discuss. Super cool. But I'm gonna stop for a minute and be honest, here...she focused on all of the changes that are coming, such as how our lives as parents...our kids themselves...and our relationships with them are going to be drastically altered...and that stuff really, finally hit home for me. As in, this whole "Derek leaving home and going off to college" thing...suddenly, powerfully, painfully got REAL. And I know it's supposed to happen this way, and it's a good next step (for all of us), and everything's going to be fine...but I think I have some serious "dealing with it" to do in the next few months. (Breathing....breathing...not working...to be continued...)

Eventually, dinner time rolled around. However, Derek had already ditched me (the nerve!) in favor of sitting and eating with a group of his peers that he'd apparently met in his last small group session, so I didn't linger at the buffet. Instead, I made one last hike down the big hill to a shop called Barefoot Campus Outfitter, where they'd advertised in our activity schedule that if you stopped by this evening, not only could you enjoy some wine and beer on the house, but they'd also gift you with a free USC Mom (or Dad) t-shirt. Well, alrighty, then--that sounds like a bargain I'd be foolish to refuse!

And now, emotionally wrung-out from the day's exertions and footsore from pounding the pavement for miles and miles, I'm going to sign off from my lovely dorm room, get some shut-eye, and mentally prepare for Day 2 of this college-palooza. 'Night, all!