Maame's College Extravaganza: Where is She Now

Hello...it's me...I haven't made a blog post in six months. I would like to tell you that I was taking a hiatus or that I was really busy, but really I just got really lazy after college decisions came out if I am being completely honest here. Ok let's debrief: I picked a college fun fact, I left Kansas for a state governed by a Kennedy (technically an ex-Kennedy, but it's water under the bridge to me). The freshman fifteen has not happened yet, actually here is what I look like now:

An actual photo of me, taken last week.

I accidentally stumbled on one of my old College Extravaganza posts, and now that I've been living on campus for nearly two months, I'm a seasoned professional of college life. During my visit to Cornell a year ago, I was really taken aback by how hilly it was. I remain completely taken aback by the hills. I also gave the geofilters a 6/10: I stand behind that. However, after becoming a student here with a Cornell water bottle and all, I've learned that the backwards-walking tour guide skipped a few things.

1. There are spiders everywhere. I'm not sure if it's just my hall or if Ithaca, NY sits on an ancient spider birthing place, but I cannot escape the spiders and it's killing me. Big spiders, little spiders, reoccurring spiders--you think you killed them but somehow they come back.
2. I swear every day on campus is a fashion show. You really can't leave your dorm for anything unless you are fully prepared for a fashion photographer to snap a picture of you. When it's sunny, rainy, overcast, cold, warm, you name it--everybody is well dressed. I wore sweatpants to class today and I couldn't even look anyone in the eye because I look like a bum. It's a struggle because classes are already hard as it is and on top of that you have to look put together.
3. Kansas is apparently a Southern tropical state. Around-hmmm- 98% of Cornell undergraduates are from Long Island alone, so when I tell people I'm from Kansas they are really shocked, then they make Wizard of Oz jokes, until finally they start to ask questions. I really thought I had heard it all before until people started asking me about non-Dorothy related information.
   
   

   "Does it snow in Kansas?"
   "Where's Kansas?"
   "Do you live on a farm?" pic.twitter.com/jxbg7zJJUU

   — Maud Maame (@duhmaame) September 6, 2016

4. 2am is a really good time. All of my assignments require a lot of reading and between tanking my exams or being slightly sleep deprived, I've chosen the latter. 2am is very chill: it's earlier than the 4am panic that comes with a frantic all nighter, the spiders have gone to sleep, my hall us usually quiet, and by that point I'm so tired I just hunker down and focus because I want to sleep.
5. 9am is a horrible time. I have a 9am class twice a week, and every day when my alarm goes off at 8, I feel like I'm being dragged into the inner-most circle of Dante's Inferno until I remember the per-class price of my lecture; that's when I finally wake up. 
6. I'm spoiled by Cornell Dining. I knew prior to attending that Cornell has really good dining hall food, but I didn't know how much it would affect me until I was complaining about my sirloin steak being overcooked. I'm going to leave it at that.
7. Patagonia is a big deal??? I'm not entirely sure why???
8. Cornell-made ice cream is essentially sugar mixed with frozen butter???

The best thing about Cornell so far though is how helpful people have been; with the exception of the few boys I once overheard talking about how helping people is stupid. Maybe it's because I scream "freshman." Or maybe it's because everybody thinks I'm this poor, sad wheat farmer from Kansas. I'm not sure--but every time I get lost I always manage to find someone willing to help me and that really nice. 

Now for Cornell at a glance: The geofilters have improved slightly, but still nothing on Lawrence's improved filters, so the 6/10 stands. I'm giving every single walkway that is at anytime uphill a 0/10 because I actually hate them and I don't want toned legs; I want comfort. As for my classes they'll all receive an 8/10 because I like them, but they're stressful.