Love from the City of Brotherly Love

Its crazy how William & Mary puts so much time into the orientation process, to make freshmen feel acclimated- like true members of the Tribe. Mixers with different freshman halls, dinner with the RA and OAs, hall-bonding activities. We build friendships as soon as we get to The College… The one thing they forgot was to teach me how to leave (I know I’m being corny but just go along with it, okay?). This year was an adventure. Included were some serious ups and downs but I would do it all over again without question.

It is strange to no longer live in a residence hall with all my best friends, but one thing that I hope will make this transition a bit easier is that I will not be bumming at home for the next 3 months. This summer is unique in that I am living with my older sister in Haverford, PA, along the Main Line. I’m in Philly now, sitting in a hall on the campus on the University of Pennsylvania because in 34 minutes, I will officially be an intern for the nonprofit group Power Up Gambia. Power Up Gambia is an organization that provides hospitals in Gambia with clean water and electricity. It is based out of UPenn and today is my first day!

I decided to apply for an internship this summer, was selected and will be doing this part time. In addition, I will be training rigorously for the upcoming cross-country season, blogging (of course!), and babysitting to make some dolla-dolla bills, ya’ll. I’ve also applied for a few part time jobs so we’ll see if any of those work out. With Power Up Gambia, I will primarily be working on projects to promote the organization via social media. This means I will be working on *their* *blog *(but I promise not to forget about this one!), facebook page, website and organizing files and photos.

I decided to take the risk, step out of my element of being a beach bum for the summer and do something new for the next few months (living with my sister and her roommate has already been interesting seeing as we cook dinner every night). I am nervous about being on my own (I have already taken the train AND the subway alone this morning) but I know that my friends are just a phone call (or a facebook/g-chat) away. I am missing everybody already and hope that you are all enjoying some much-needed relaxation time. I, however, need to finish this frappucino and get ready for my first meeting!

With lots of love from Philadelphia,

Kris