Manhattan, New York!!

I've been meaning to update since I got here, but I just haven't been able to get motivated, not to mention that I haven't been in the apartment a whole lot.

So I'm in New York City!!! I can't believe it. The city is great. I've had such a blast just exploring and people-watching and simply being here. It's amazing!

The apartment is great. It's small, like I expected, but we didn't end up with a fourth roommate, so there's plenty of space for the three of us. My roommates are both really into decorating, so it looks wonderful. It's just my stuff that's a mess =)

Fortunately, it doesn't look like we'll get another roommate, at least not this semester. My roommates' names are Jill and Kristina. They're both transferring in. Jill is transferring in as sophomore from Cornerstone. For the few of you who don't know, Cornerstone is very similar to Cedarville, so we ended up here for many of the same reasons and with similar college experiences. Kristina is transferring in from community college. She's been living at home, so this is new for her. You can pray especially for her adjustment to living with others and for us to have patience as she's making the difficult transition.

We've been enduring new student orientation since Monday. When I did this last year at Cedarville, I never dreamed that I'd have to do this again, and it hasn't been fun. It goes through Thursday...ugh...

The students here are so nice though. Right from the beginning my time here has been so much better than it was at Cedarville up until this point. It hasn't been easy, mind you, but much better.

Classes start September 5th. I know that it's normal for the faculty to kind of freak you out at first about the difficulty, in order to weed some students out and send you into the semester with the mentality to work hard. However, after talking to some upper classmen, I'm afraid that this is going to be much more difficult than I ever imagined. Honestly, as they've been talking about what they look for in the application process, I wonder if I got here through some sort of fluke. I don't feel like I have, or even can, live up to many of the standards they set. I know, however, that God has me here for a reason. I just will really covet your prayers as classes start. I've been trying to get out into the city as much as possible since I got here, in spite of the constant rain, because I'm afraid that I won't ever make it out after classes start.

I've been working on filling out applications for Starbucks. There are so many in the area, so I will submit applications to several. Hopefully I'll get a job soon with flexible hours, and that will give me my school breaks off.

So yeah, I'm in New York! I still can't believe it. Every time I walk out the door I look around and think to myself, "This is where I live!" Or I look up at the Empire State Building and say, "That's my school." It's so incredible. I just hope I make good enough grades to stay. Thank you so much everyone for praying. So many prayers have already been answered, and I know things will work out.