My New BFFs

I have 22 new best friends. I went to the first of two Social Work orientations yesterday and met the 22 fellow students I will get to know intimately over the next three years. I can't remember if I mentioned it here that I'm enrolled in the part-time or "Distance Education" program, which means it will take my cohort and me three years to earn our MSWs as opposed to two. For the first two years of our program, we will attend classes only on Fridays on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham. The third year we will be on UNC's campus in Chapel Hill for full-time study. I will complete two field placements (or internships) and am looking into a summer Study Abroad class in Costa Rica. It's all so very exciting! We did kind of a "speed-dating" exercise yesterday where we had four minutes to chat up our partners before time was called and the next partner moved over. It was the kind of thing I love (and the kind of thing David hates), and during the exercise I found out who also had small children, who went to UNC as an undergraduate, who also majored in English and minored in Women's Studies, and who did VISTA and AmeriCorps after college. (At least one woman and I share all of the above). When I walked into the restroom during a break and saw a fellow student/new mother pumping breast milk, I knew I was in the right place. We'll all be facing the delicate balance between work, family, school, and fun and we'll be helping each other figure it all out.