I finally made it to Memphis. I arrived on Monday and had my room fully furnished by Tuesday night, which I consider to be an accomplishment. I also don't consider having a mattress and box spring on the floor without a headboard a problem. With only my car to carry all my things, I wasn't able to bring any furniture. By the end of Monday, I only had a bedside table assembled next to my makeshift "bed" (lots of blankets on the floor). Luckily, by the end of Tuesday night I had found it all, kitchen table and chairs (which desperately need to be re-upholstered), desk and matching bookshelf, dresser and a brand-new mattress. So on Wednesday, I took time off from unpacking and went to the Botanic Garden Farmer's Market and to the Cooper Young district. I bought okra for the first time, but had to ask how to prepare it. I should have realized that everyone's favorite way to eat okra is fried. We had lunch at Soul Fish on Cooper, and it was wonderful like always. I love the fact that Macaroni and Cheese counts as a veggie on their menu.
Thursday morning was our first day of orientation. I'm still not used to this Central time thing and will wake up an hour before my alarm, because I think it’s 7:00am and not 6:00am. Made it to orientation easily, it's so convenient that the school is only a few minutes away from my apartment. We stayed busy all day, and it seemed like everyone was excited to finally be here and starting. We were measured for our white coats, which seemed to be a bigger ordeal than I initially expected. I took the advice of the man in charge of sizing, and I'm sure that I won't be disappointed. We received lots of helpful information about the school, our curriculum, the Memphis area and optometry in general, while meeting lots of different people involved in all aspects of the college. We ended the day with ice cream, so I went home full and content. The second day of orientation went by even faster, and we ended the day by receiving our equipment. You could tell that everyone was excited to jump right in, because lots of the students were taking home our new equipment and books before class has even started. I was worried that I would break something, so I left mine in my locker.
It was nice to finally get to meet the entering class. I've been seeing names on Sharepoint and in emails, and now I can put some faces with their names. I’m off to start the weekend in true Memphis fashion with a Barbecue Dinner. Looking forward to class on Monday....