I have always enjoyed going out with my friends on the weekends. For my 18th birthday my friends and I decided we wanted to go to a club called Glo-a few days before I was leaving for college. We went to an 18+ club and I wanted to be at the club at midnight; the start of my birthday. I figured since I was turning 18 at 12 that there would be no problem getting in at 11. With me being a worry wart, I called just to make sure. Thankfully I did, because the manager I spoke with said you have to be 18 to enter, no exceptions. Since all of my friends were already 18, they didn't think this was a big deal. They simply found me a friend of a friends 18 ID to use for the night. Considering I did not have much interest in going to club Glo in the first AND that I am such a worrier, I wasn't too fond of the idea. But I went along with it anyway because I knew I was going to have a good time. So we went to the club, I got in no problem and had a great time but I still didn't feel I was doing the right. I had an amazing birthday but from that day on I will never use false identification again!

Three goals that  I have set for myself are: keep a 3.5 or above average, as well as my scholarship, to be able to manage my sorority ZTA activities with my school activities, and study for all of my tests earlier than I have been.

In order to keep at 3.5 or above as well as my scholarship I am going to study for each class 2 more hour a week than i have been. Also the use of SI leaders will help me keep up my grades. I hope to attain better study skills an note taking methods to help me succeed. I hope to achieve this goal by the end of the first semester
Another goal that I have for myself is to manage school work and ZTA. All of the services and events i have to attend with my sorority has really effected how much/long I have been spending on homework. To correct this I plan on making a schedule with all of my ZTA obligations, and then filling the rest of the schedule with times to do my homework and study. I will be able to see my goal and achieve it. I hope to fulfill this goal by the end of the first semester as well.
A third goal I have is to study for all of my tests earlier. I have been tending to cram lately and cramming in High School never really worked well for me so I hope to change this habit in college. I plan on using more notecards, make a study schedule for all of my tests separating studying over the course of a week or two. I hope to achieve this goal by my next test!

This upcoming weekend is my first function with my sorority Zeta Tau Alpha, as well as the first home football game! Both of these events are reasons I chose to come to the University of South Carolina, therefore I am beyond excited. The theme of our first Zeta Tau Alpha function is "Southbound and down" named after the television series "Eastbound and down." The dress attire is southern/nascar attire. I have been scrounging for clothing all week and have finally found an outfit!

As for the first football game, I didn't receive tickets during the first period of selling. My dad researched many different websites to order tickets from and found me and my roommate very good seats of a cheap price. That following day after I had obtained the tickets, I received an e-mail that the re-sale of the tickets were going on sale. I received the e-mail and requested tickets on the student ticket website. So, I finally got a ticket! at 1:0am my entire hall was going CRAZY because everyone received a ticket. Thankfully I got on the website early and received a ticket! My roommate unfortunately did not get student ticket..so we plan on using our paid for tickets to sit in seats that are not near the students section. It's a good thing that we love to meet new people! because throughout this experience I have met so many new people and made so many new friends.

This past week I attended the student organization fair as well as the study abroad fair. As far as student organizations go I signed up for the Fashion club as well as the Entrepreneur club. I have always been interested in fashion, I even considered it as a major a few yeas back. Although I decided against majoring in fashion I still love everything about it. In this club there are opportunities such as modeling, merchandising and assisting in both. Merchandising sparked my interest so I decide to sign up. Meeting will occur sporadicly, not all the time, which is perfect because I am hoping to get involved with many other things on campus.

As for the study abroad fair, I have always wanted to study abroad but I never knew where. I also have wanted to go to Italy for as long as I can remember. So as I walked around I picked up brochures for all study abroad programs when I came up to one certain table. The Costa Rica brochure sparked my interest and I decided to talk to the women behind the table. She asked what my major was so I told her Psychology. Right after, I told her that I was thinking about switching my major to business because I have been debating it for awhile now. Her face lit up and she grabbed an Italy brochure. She explained that the business study abroad program in Milan, Italy is phenomenal. I was so happy I went straight home and looked into switching majors! Whatever I decide to do I'm sure I will love, but going to both of these fairs helped open my mind up to different opportunities.

The start of something new

I have been living in Carolina for three weeks now and I have loved every minute of it. The people, the environment and the atmosphere all have felt so welcoming. I have been very busy with trying to get involved with things on campus as well as start off the year keeping up with all my schoolwork. To get involved so early, I decided to rush. Rushing was an unforgettable experience. I have already made so many new friends, as well as future sisters. On bid day I was accepted into the sorority Zeta Tau Alpha. After spending only a few days with the girls in the sorority and attending one new member meeting I have already gained so much knowledge about ZTA, as well as greek life in general. Zeta Tau Alpha Beta Omicrion chapter (USC's chapter) was founded on March 4th, 1929. It was one of the first four houses to be built in greek village as well as the very first sorority house. The Zeta house sleeps up to 40 girls in full capacity, so that everyone can get a chance to live in the beautiful house. Our specific chapter here at USC was the 64th chapter to join Zeta Tau Alpha.

Another thing that I have learned thus far that I have found interesting, was in my University 101 class. The scavenger hunt we did in the historic horseshoe taught me so much about why and how the university has grown over the years since 1801. The horseshoe itself used to be the original campus. Before adapting the name "University of South Carolina," it was previously called "South Carolina College."

I also found it interesting that the statue that sits in the center of the horseshoe was in memory of the first USC president, Jonathan Maxcy. This year I am living in a dorm that was coincidently named after him. I love living there because it used to be the old honors dorms so it is very spacious and welcoming. Nobody really knows of Maxcy college, but it is located right on the horseshoe.

I have learned so much thus far about the University of South Carolina and i'm sure that during my years here I will learn so much more.