My Arrival in Denver!

YAY! I am finally getting a few minutes to sit down and update my blog! Thankfully, my roommate is awesome and is letting me use her netbook. Mine was ordered today so as soon as I get it, I will be able to update a lot more frequently.

Before giving you a brief summary of my time so far, I just want to say that I am having an AMAZING time! I miss my family, friends, and Eric, but I am so happy being around other young adults who are up-beat, excited to do service work, and interested in exploring Denver. I have absolutely ZERO regrets this far. Every morning I wake up, look outside, and have a hard time believing that I'm actually here. As I slip into my extremely ugly uniform (don't worry, pictures are below!), I realize that I am actually here in AmeriCorps. It is awesome.

I don't have a ton of time tonight (and I don't want to hog my roommate's computer), but below is a short update of my trip so far. I hope you enjoy reading! If you have any questions (since it's hard for me to remember everything), feel free to post them as comments and I will respond as soon as I get a chance.

Hugs! - Ashley

October 14, 2009

I arrived in Denver at around 12pm (2pm Michigan time) and immediately found an NCCC representative. She escorted me to the check-in area and was extremely nice and friendly. She told me where to pick up my luggage and then showed me where the shuttle waiting area was. As I walked up to the luggage carousel, both of my suitcases instantly appeared in front of me (it was crazy! I didn't have to wait at all!) I headed to the waiting area and began introducing myself to tons of people from around the country. After nearly an hour, we boarded a shuttle and headed to campus. It was a 45 minute drive, and most of us spent the entire trip gazing out the window at the beautiful mountains. Still, each time I see the mountains, I comment on how beautiful they are. I'm not sure if I will ever get used to them.

We are staying at Colorado Heights University, which is in the outskirts of the Denver area. This is the sign that greeted us when we arrived to campus!

The campus is pretty small, but you can see the mountains all around it. This bell tower is the tallest point in the Denver area. It's cool because we can drive 30 minutes away, hike up a mountain, and still find campus by looking for this tower.

This is a picture of Walsh Hall, the dormitory hall that all NCCC Corps members are staying in. We are the only people occupying the building, and we have our own security code to get in. I am on the second floor on the right side of the building. Each hallway is separated by gender, and there are community bathrooms in each hall. Free laundry is in the basement, which is nice, but with 230 people, 5 washers doesn't really cut it!

As soon as a got off the shuttle bus, I was sent to check in and get my room key. I immediately met my roommate, who arrived before me. Her name is Megan Vodzak, and she's 22 and from PA. It is awesome how similar we are in personality, and we are getting along great so far. Below is a picture of our door sign -- we are in the fire unit.

*We are organized into four different units (earth, sun, fire, and water) and then in teams within those units.

Megan and I spent a couple hours cleaning and unpacking out room, and then we attended a meeting at 7pm with all Corps Members as a welcome. We spent most of the night walking around the dorm getting to know people. We also found out that we had a girl on our floor celebrating a 21st birthday, so after our meeting, a few of us (actually around 30 of us!) went to a local bar just for a beer and to sign her happy birthday. It was a fabulous first day!

Because of the way this blog template is set up, I am going to have to make multiple shorter entries to add pictures and descriptions. Sooo...begin reading this from bottom to top and it will be in chronological order!