Hello corn, Hello Grinnell

It took me only a week to fall in love with a ten thousand town of Grinnell, its people and the school. My adventure started with a weeklong pre-orientation meeting with international students from all around the world. After the very few days of activities and exploring the campus, I could sense the unbelievable power of close-knit community. I was impressed by the work of admissions counselors who were capable of putting together such a wonderful group of talented and passionate young people. Grinnell takes pride in its diversity, and I am very happy to be a part of a student body that represents more than seventy-four countries.

After the pre-orientation meeting, everything escalated very quickly. The rest of the students arrived to Grinnell, and two days later the classes began. Now, I have five weeks left of the semester; yet, it feels like I got here two weeks ago. The time goes by unbelievably fast with so many things keeping me busy. I took six classes this semester: History, Spanish, Economics, Writing, Racquetball, and Tutorial. Tutorial is the only required class for freshman. It is an introductory seminar that is supposed to get one ready for the next four years of college. I could choose preferences from thirty different topics and by random shuffle I was lucky to get my first choice.

This semester I participate in several extracurricular activities: international student organization, extreme society, Spanish house “Hora cultural”, and football. Besides clubs and organizations, I also take advantage of different events at the school, such as Open Mic at school’s coffee place, where anyone can perform, pub quizzes, guest speakers, or cultural festivals. It is just great, there is always something happening on campus.

At Grinnell, there are several common sayings regarding the college life. At some point each student realizes how truthful those sayings actually are. For me, the best statement representing my first few months is: you have three options. Good sleep, good friends, good grades. Pick two. I will let you guess which ones did I pick.