Orientation Week!

Today was the first of three days of orientation.  The first event on the agenda?  "A gentle waking up with bagels and coffee."   Sounds more like a resort than college, lol!

Turns out there are only 5 people in my cohort.  I hope we all get along!!  

Our group consists of a guy from Egypt - Muhamed.  It's his first time traveling outside his country.  He was a bit shy and nervous at first but he's becoming fast friends with the group.  There is a guy from Taiwan who insists we call him 'Tom.'  Also a guy from LA, Jack, who used to be a collegiate pitcher.  Rounding out the bunch is a girl (whoo-hoo!) Monica, from Ghana.  She is on the ball and knows all the details of everything.  She's my new best friend, lol.

They have all the grad students together in one room, so I'm also meeting people from the other programs: International Relations, Psychology (most popular!), and the other business major, MBA.  I immediately bonded with this awesome Armenian girl, Evelyn, a Psych major, and fellow curly girl.  Her curls are AMAZING.  She reminded me very much of the character Cosima on Orphan Black. I think it was the glasses and the 'I don't give a sh*t' attitude, lol.  She gave me all the insider tips for being a student in Leiden.  SUPER helpful!

Icebreakers weren't as painful as I thought they may be. The faculty all seem to be very nice and super helpful.  I'm not sure if it's the small community of the school or the location-based Dutch influence, but everyone is so nice.  It's incredible.

I love the international composition of the whole graduate student body.   There are students from everywhere. Lot's of different languages and lots of different backgrounds.  What I have found very interesting, is every time I ask a fellow student how they found themselves here, every single one of them has a story about not being satisfied with their existing situation and having a desire to find a way to live their dreams.  All very inspiring!