NSO Blog: Hello My Name Is...

Me: Hi!
Them: Hi! What’s your name?
Me: Orin.
Them: What? Warren?
Me: No, Orin.
Them: Lauren?
Me: Orin.
Them: Orange?
Me: No. OR-in. O – R – I – N
Them: Oh! That’s… an interesting name. I’ve never heard that before.
Me: Haha yeah I know. I get that all the time. What’s yours?
Them: *insert name here* What are you majoring in?
Me: Music and Ministry. Wha–
Them (interrupting me): Oh, that’s so cool! I wish I could play an instrument! What instrument do you play?!?
Me: Yeah I think it’s pretty cool too. I play guitar and I sing. I'm a worship leader at my church. What’s your major?
Them: *insert major here*
Me: Oh, okay. That's pretty cool.
Them: ...
*commence awkward silence*

This was the general idea of about every conversation I had the first day of New Student Orientation (NSO). Every conversation seemed to be the same, but there was never a dull moment. Meeting new people was great and hearing all the mispronunciations of my name was definitely exciting too. I got a kick out of it at least. I knew beforehand that I would have to say my name countless times, as always, but it was always funny. Everything about the day was great. The schedule flowed well, the people were great, the helpers were… well, helpful, and everything seemed to just fit together perfectly. I knew that this is where I was supposed to be.

The morning of NSO, August 20, I finished up the final touches on my packing and got in the car with my mom and my dad. At this point in time, a lot of people would be super nervous and/or excited, but not me. I knew it would be a change in my life but it wasn’t anything drastic. I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t anxious. I wasn’t anything. I just had a peace. I knew this is where God wanted me to be long before I was getting ready to go. Rather than being overwhelmed and going crazy I was more excited knowing that this is where God wanted me and that I was pursuing the path He had been preparing me for and growing me towards.

I’m from Oceanside, so it was a quick 45-minute drive, and then we were there. When we got there, we could definitely tell that people to be on the lookout for were the people in the green shirts. There were tons of them. Some had signs pointing you where to go and others just had smiles and a “Hello!” to greet you with. They made us all feel welcome because of their energy. There were lots of seminars we had to go to and lots of people talking about a lot of things on stage but the people helping out and the speakers were all very friendly and made the process very bearable. One thing flowed to the next and it was a great experience overall. After the messages from staff, they sent us to let us go to check in to our rooms. And the fun began.

Moving in was suuuuper painless. When we got to my dorm, Hendricks, there was a sea of those same green shirts blowing air horns, clapping, and cheering, just waiting for incoming freshman to help them move their stuff in to their rooms. We got to the parking lot and immediately, people came and took my stuff in. It was so quick, just about 5 minutes that I didn’t even have time to look around to the view and see where I was.

When I got to my room, I realized how much God had just blessed me. My room, Hendricks 204, has an ocean view. And I realized the next evening; it has a great view of the sunset too! And, the best part about it is that I have my own room. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but that’s what my current situation is. I originally had two other roommates, but one got moved to Young Hall a couple days before NSO and the other never showed up to school. So, I had my own room. And I knew that was God’s will for me. Having my own room really is a blessing. I can study at whatever hours I want. I can have a late night quiet time and not have to worry about keeping anyone up. I can pray out loud whenever I want. I can play my worship playing my guitar whenever I want. And it’s not like I can’t hang out with people in my hall. I can visit them and they can visit my room too. I can basically do whatever I want whenever I want in my own room (unless it disturbs people during quiet hours, which start at 10. Bummer! Oh well. It’s all good).

NSO was a really great experience. I met sooo many  new people. Even though I don’t remember most of their names (and definitely not their majors), I definitely had a lot of fun with the whole experience. I’m so glad I’m here and I’m so glad that God was already at work even before I even got here. I am excited to see what He does with me here and how I can join Him in what He’s doing.

This is a picture of my room as I'm cleaning it. It's messy now. But it usually looks a lot nicer :)

That is all.