The First Night Out:
My first night went a little like this....I was upset that my roommate was leaving. I wanted to go out, so I called a friend was who on my team in high school, we call her Strepy Six (story comes later). Strepy Six and her roommate Rach were taking me out even though I could barely breath from a stuffy nose, better yet talk to new people. We were meeting up with a guy rach had met the night before. I remember meeting him and his friend walking across campus so confused to where we were going. I had no idea what campus was like, besides when I took my stupid campus tour that of course lasted 12 years. You would think I would know the damn campus then. Eventually, we ended up at a house. A bunch of people were starting to come, meeting up, to "pregame". A new word I really never used in high school. I waved at everyone and my friends told everyone, "No, she literally can't talk, her name is Melissa, she's our friend". This happened every time someone new was coming to greet us. After about 30 minutes or so we headed out to the back porch, where all these people were then drinking. Strepy Six and Rach passes around a handle of some sort. I felt awkward around all these people that were drinking, except me. Strepy Six then told handed it to me asking if I wanted some, I looked at the bottle for awhile, then took a gulp. The felt the sting go down my throat...hating it. We then all piled into a car going somewhere else...I was clueless. All I knew was that 11 people were in the car..making it impossible to move. The girl next to me said something to me, and all I could respond with was my raspy voice..I wouldn't even call it a voice. I was getting to the point though where I could kind of explain that my voice was gone...completely. We arrived right by the dorms to some apartments. Walking in, it was exactly like those college parties I had seen in movies. As we settled in, people were coming up to us and saying hi. They were all older, much much older than freshman. I had never been the one to go "party" and especially not with people who had been past the legal drinking age about four years. As Rach went off with her "friend" Cody, Strepy Six and I talked to a girl who was "watching" over us you could say. She was making the scene more comfortable because well I had no idea who anyone was besides Strepy Six and Rach. Her name was Sherri, and from her perspective we were just little freshman who needed help understanding how to "party" in college. Sherri poured shots for Strepy Six and me. It was my first shot I had ever taken fully, but I didn't want anyone to know that. I would look dumb, not to mention I already couldn't talk. I stared at it for awhile, thinking about how much the first gulp I had hurt to even go down my throat. And the taste...so gross. Sherri told me to just do it, I did....I could barley finish it without it getting all over me. I looked around to make sure no one was even around me...thank god. Strepy Six made it very obvious that I had really messed that up. After that Sherri just kept pouring them for Strepy and me. Every one went down a little easier than the last. Before I knew it I was screaming in joy and talking to people I had never met before. I loved this feeling, so invincible, I felt popular. As I was feeling like a superstar...a drunk superstar...I realized Rach and Cody had been making out in the hallway the whole time. I couldn't help but laugh and think about how cute they were. I wanted to do that. After my bathroom trip with Sherri, Strepy, and Rach, we were walking out of the apartment to apparently another party. My head was spinning and I wanted to do was talk, I was screaming so loud as we were walking. My voice was rough but I could semi talk. I felt the best I had since school started. While walking I saw a cop car, initially freaking out, Strepy had to calm me down. Then as we approached a party, a highlighter party (party where kids literally highlight the shit out of a person because all the black lights on show it) where I fell asleep on someone, have no idea who that person is. Whoever they were, thanks for taking care of my sleepy body. Strepy Six and Rach took me home, I had made it in without checking into the dorms..because it was before 12am....good start to my college social life. I was put to bed and told to call them in the morning. This is was the first night I truly felt apart of something, and maybe friends that showed they cared about me. What I didn't understand is this was only the beginning to a crazy crazy semester.

First Impression at College:
The first weekend of my college career I had gotten sick...seriously. I could not talk, nothing would come out. I tried talking and my voice would come out as a a slight sound that maybe only dogs could hear. It was awful, I did not know my roommate, so that bonding process was delayed. Not only that but everyone I met was scared of me, thinking I had some problem for not talking. It really went one of two ways, "Oh did you party to hard last night...RAGERRR".....yeaaa that's it. Or I would just get that look from someone that they felt bad because I obviously was socially awkward and could not make conversation with all these new people I was meeting. Well the truth was...I just lost my voice because well I'm prone to any common cold that makes its way around. My roommate had gone out the first weekend with friends from high school  while I stayed in watching Dawson's Creek. Life could not getting any more worse I thought. The next morning I woke up to no roommate and still no voice..I was over this shit. My roommate Jean went on and on about some guy who she hooked up with who was Asian and had worked his hand magic...:). I did not even know this girl and she was telling me about her hook ups...it was a great first impression, but somehow I knew we would be friends..I liked her sense of humor and her lack of concern for judgement from others. Maybe it was just what I needed in my life.