First Semester of College
Arizona Sta te University
Mackenzi Moves to Arizona
August 8, 2018: I boarded a
plane and left my home in Oma-
ha, Nebraska for the last time for
the next three months. I told my
friends and my dog goodbye one
last time, packed everything I
needed for college, and left to
start my new adventure. I was
really nervous to move so far
away because I had never been
on my own before, and the fact
that I was testing it out for the
first time over 1200 miles away,
terrified me.
August 11, 2018: I met my room-
mate for the first time. I was
really nervous about how the
semester was going to go because
it was extremely awkward. Little
did I know that she would be-
come one of my closest friends
from this semester.
August 12, 2018: This was my
official move-in day. The main
Adjusting to Colle ge Life
There are a lot of differences in
Arizona compared to Nebraska.
For starters, there is a lot more
traffic outside my dorm than
there was outside my house at
home. Also, rather than drive
somewhere and see corn fields,
cows and shorter buildings, de-
pending where you drive you see
thing I remember from this day Volume , Issue
was how overwhelming it was
because I brought SO much stuff. 11/2/18
It took me a long time to unpack
and get situated, but eventually I
was done and our room turned
out great. The only downside was
I had packed maybe one long Special points of inter-
sleeve too many, but then again it est:
was the middle of August in
AZ…  How Mackenzi Has Ad-
justed to College Life
August 12, 2018
 Friends Mackenzi Has
Made
 Sorority Life for Mackenzi
Inside this issue:
Homesick 2
Friends 2
Sorority 2
Family Weekend 3
skyscrapers and not a single field. past ya there”. In general, though,
The other biggest difference is adjusting to being on my own
the language. There are a lot of and being in a different state and Classes 3
phrases that I often say at home time zone has been a lot easier
that I don’t think twice about. than expected.
Halloween 3
However, apparently they are
Midwest specific phrases. Exam-
ples include: pop (rather than Finals 4
soda), “ope”, and “let me sneak
Page 2 First Semester of College

As one would imagine, being
away from home would cause
some homesickness.
The biggest challenge for me
was I missed my dog. A lot.
Especially as I became stressed
and sick on top of my homesick-
ness, I missed being able to
snuggle with him.
Another thing I struggled with at
first was I missed my sister. We
are really close and it was very
odd to not share a living space
with her anymore. She isn’t very
Homesick
good at communicating via phone, so not talk-
ing to her very often made me miss her a lot,
too.
One of the main reasons I decided to go to
school this far away was to get away from my
parents and claim my independence. However,
I found myself missing them a lot more than I
thought I would and I called (and still do)
them at least twice a day.
Finally, I missed my two best friends. It was
challenging to stay in touch and updated in
their lives because none of our schedules lined
up.

Meghan: My roommate
has been a great friend
thus far. We get dinner
often and we’ve become
really close. Even though
she joined a different
sorority than me, we’ve
remained friends and I
think that’s really im-
portant. While I’ve been
sick, she’s a great sport
and doesn’t make a big
Meghan, Hannah, Gracie & I deal out of it. Instead, she
offers to get soup or any-
thing that would help and
she checks up on me. I really lucked out with her!
Friends
Hannah: My suitemate is such a good friend. She’s “The greatest gift of life
great at advice and is a down-to-earth person. She’s
fun to be around and is so sweet! is friendship, and I have
Gracie: My other suitemate is the kindest, goofiest received it.”
person I know. She gives great advice but knows
when to just listen, too. She moved back home for - Hubert H. Humphrey
the semester, and I miss her a lot, but we still stay in
contact and she’s a great friend to have!
Shivani: My sorority twin and first friend outside of
my roommate and suitemates is the sweetest person
I know. Her silly personality can make any situation
better and she has the biggest heart. I’m so lucky to
have her!

Sorority
Rush week occurred the first and second weekends of the semester. After four very tir-
ing days, I was accepted into Sigma Kappa. I have already met some of the most amaz-
ing women, including my best friend, my other “twins” and my “big sister”.

This is our heritage and

family photo.
 Page 3

Family Weekend
For family weekend, my sister and show her around campus again and
I convinced our parents to let only how well I’ve adjusted to living
her fly down. She was here for away from home. I also loved in-
barely 24 hours but it was great to troducing her to the people that
see her. We took a nap, got tacos were important in my life. Family
for lunch, went swimming, took weekend was a lot of fun.
another nap and then went to the
football game. We also went to the
tailgate my sorority was hosting
which had free food (that was the
best part). I loved being able to

Classes
I took 17 credits this semester, and it Overall, this semester has been a lot “Education is the passport to
has been a lot to start off with. How- of general education classes which the future, for tomorrow
ever, it has been easy that none of my have been tedious and I haven’t en-
classes ever have large exams since joyed as much but the one major- belongs to those who prepare
the teachers college puts an emphasis based class I have really liked, so for it today”
on projects. I have struggled with not that’s encouraging. -Malcolm X
having professors enter grades soon
after an assignment, like what hap-
pened in high school because my
scholarship is GPA based so grades
are really important to maintain.

Halloween
I haven’t dressed up for Halloween M, so we dressed up as M&Ms. For actual Hal-
since 8th grade, so I have been loween I was going to be a mermaid, but I’m
overly excited for the holiday this too sick to go out and dress up anymore, which
year. I bought too many costumes is a real bummer because I was the most excit-
for the days that had costume par- ed for that costume. Overall, though, it was a
ties/events/competitions. The most good Halloween and now I can get excited for
clever costume I had was my Christmas season!
“couples” costume with my room-
mate. Both our names start with an
Arizona Sta te University

1151 S Forest Ave Overall, my first semester has been

Tempe, AZ 85281
Phone: 855-278-5080
Fax: 123-456-789
Email: godevils@asu.edu
First Semester at ASU
really great. My classes, while bor-
ing and easy, were fine and helped
push me towards my major-oriented
classes. I’ve met some really great
people so far and I cannot wait to
start my spring semester!

All photos used are my own.

Contact Me!
mkugler1@asu.edu

Mackenzi Prepares to Go Home

As the semester begins to come to a yet, so when I get home I will
close and reach finals season, I can read a lot.
start to get excited for Thanksgiving 5. Girls night with my best friend.
which will be the first time being
home since August. Personally, here 6. I have really missed driving and
are some activities I am looking the freedom it pro-
forward to above all else. vides.
1. My grandma gives the best 7. I am very excit- I’m excited to see my siblings.
hugs and I can’t wait to get ed for real food.
one.
2. My dog. I miss him a lot.
3. My own bed in my own room
that I can be alone in.
4. My books. I love to read for
fun and I haven’t had the op-
portunity to do that in college These are my grandparents
on my mom’s side.