This coming weekend is the weekend I have been waiting for for weeks. Parents weekend! I've never been so excited to see my mom, dad, and little brother. I've also never realized how much I needed them until they dropped my off for college.

I first realized that I needed my mom when I got sick 2 weeks into college. I didnt have her to give me the right medicine and I didnt know the first thing when it came to medicine. I didnt have my mom to do my laundry and make my clothes smell like flowers just like it does back home. My mom would no longer be there for when I came home from a bad day and needed to vent. I miss the long car rides we would take together and I would spill out everything about my life. I miss shopping for homecoming dresses with her and going grocery shopping even though I complained the whole time. I miss her hugs and her squeaky voice when she tells me she loves me.

I not only miss my mom but I also miss my dad. I've always been such a daddys girl and always need my dad. I miss watching sports with him on sundays even if it was golf (which I hated) but it didnt matter because I was with him. I miss playing guitar for him at night and when he would join along and play air guitar right next to me. I miss him bringing home either goose or fish for us to eat for dinner even though I was against him hunting. I miss him telling me not to be late for curfew when I went out with my friends. I cant wait till he comes to Roanoke and watches the soccer games with me reminiscing on the times when he played for Roanoke in 1989.

Last but not least, I miss my brother Tyler. I never thought I would say that but I do. I miss him making me laugh at the dinner table. I never realized how much I needed him in college, mostly to make me laugh on stressful days. I miss driving him around to his friends house or to go fishing or just to get snow cones. Im so glad he is finally going to get to see Roanoke. I miss watching him play lacrosse and soccer and cheering him on silently in my head so i didnt embarrass him on the field.

I miss my family so much and have realized that no matter how far from home I am they will always be #1 to me and my biggest supporters. They come first in my life and I feel like I struggle everyday without being home with them. Im so glad I get the chance to go to the college that my parent met at and am glad they get to live their college experience all over again through me.

Recently I went through one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. Recently as in last weekend. As I mentioned in my last blog, I took a trip to University of Maryland 4 hours away to visit some friends for the weekend. I was already so nervous to be traveling without my parents and knew that something would go wrong one way or another. I don't have the best luck when it comes to these types of things.

I woke up Sunday morning in my friends dorm thinking that if I left at 12:30 pm traveling 25 minutes to D.C. that it would leave me plenty of time to catch my bus for a 2:00 departure. My friend would drive me to Union Station and everything would be fine and dandy. This wasn't the case though. 

Luckily we were making great time, but my luck soon turned. I was following my Google Maps on my phone and it said that we would be there 30 minutes before 2:00. My friend driving failed to tell me that she was following her own GPS which was taking us a completely different way. Hers said that we would arrive at Union Station at 2:10. This was unacceptable..I could NOT be late for my bus back home. I told her to follow the directions off of my phone from now on even though we were already about 20 minutes out of our way. My friend is a pretty reckless and fast driver and normally her driving would have freaked me out but not this time. This time I was the one telling her to pass that car or to speed up even though we were already going about 20 over the speed limit. I had my mind set that I was not going to miss my bus home. 

Washington D.C. traffic was insanely busy that day. OF COURSE..TODAY, the day I'm late for my bus. The car was getting hotter and I began to freak out. I started thinking off all the consequences of missing my bus. 1. My parents would be pissed that I just spent all that money on the bus ride and 2. I would be missing my classes monday! I called my friend who traveled with me but got her own ride to the bus station. She was already on the bus and wondering where I was. I told her to stall the bus driver and tell him that I would be there a few minutes after 2:00. It was no use, he couldn't hold up the passengers on the bus. I was doomed. 

I spotted Union Station from about a half mile away. We were slowly inching our way through the line to reach the entrance of the station. I just said "screw this" jumped out of the car and sprinted across the busy road, then the lawn, then around a huge statue that seemed to be really inconvenient at that moment. I looked like a fool running awkwardly with a big bag on my back. I'd never felt so out of shape and didn't realize this until I started almost hyperventilating while running through the station. I couldn't find the busses anywhere. It was exactly 2:00 there was no time to loose. Then I got the call.

my friend: "Meghan..the bus driver just started the bus.where are you??"

me: "Im coming, just please stall!"

my friend: I tried my best! He's pulling out of the station now. you need to go back to your friends car who drove you here."

I didn't know where my friend who drove me was at this point. Eventually I called her  and jumped back in the car. I didn't know where to go next. Should I get a hotel room and then catch a bus back to Roanoke tomorrow? I was out of ideas. Finally I made the call to my parents. They were disappointed and very mad at me. I began to cry to my mom over the phone which calmed them down and suddenly made them more supportive. They told me to come home which was an hour away from Union Station. I was exhausted and just wanted to be on that bus sleeping. 

When I got home my mom hugged me. I was so happy to see my family because I hadn't seen them since they dropped me off at college. They told me I was to drive back to Roanoke that night so I wouldn't miss classes the next day. I thought they were crazy at first because I had only driven the highway about 3 times before this. I was not ready to drive 5 and a half hours back to Roanoke but knew it was my only choice. 

I hit the road around 5:00 pm and drove for 4 hours. I was so tired while driving that I almost fell asleep at the wheel a few times. I knew I had to stop or i would probably end up getting in an accident. I was close to James Madison University and knew my close friend went there. I called her up and explained my situation to her. She felt so bad for me that she let me stay at her place over night. I slept on a hard couch that was right outside of her dorm room. I woke up early to hit the road and thankfully made it back to Roanoke before my 12:00 class. This whole adventure was a learning experience for me and was somewhat glad I went through it. 

Here I am sitting at the Falling Branch megabus station. It's cold outside and full of strangers. 20 more minutes until I board the bus.. My journey ends at University of Maryland. I've never been so exciting to take a trip back to Maryland and I've also never taken a bus without my parents. Unfamiliar with the area and scared of strangers I don't know how this trip is going to work out.

I just took my seat on the bus. A 300 pound African American just took his seat next to me and is blaring a song by  "2 chainz" out of his iPod. I was basically sitting next to the hulk. Thank God I took the window seat so I could look at the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains on this journey. There all types of people on this bus. I wonder where they are going and why they are traveling. I wish I had my car so I could drive myself from Randolph College to Maryland. I could be blaring my music in my car and sit on my leather seats rather than listening to my music through headphones at a reasonable volume in these itchy bus seats. Not to mention I haven't eaten anything since before my 12:00 class. My stomach is making weird noises because I''m starving! 5 more hours until I can eat. I'm craving a buffalo chicken wrap with fries and a mountain dew and The Cavern back at Randolph College. 5 hours of sitting on a bus can be boring..thankful I have my "Thr Sex Lives of Cannibals" book to read!

It sucks not having a car in college to be able to go on these road trips myself. Instead I had to pay someone to drive me to the bus station, pay for a bus ticket, and pay for someone to pick me up from the bus station on Sunday. I'm so used to having my own car and driving it every day to wherever I need to go. I've been on bus rides at school for field trips but never a bus ride from school to home. I guess I could think of this as a long field trip. I've never felt so out of place.

I stepped onto Randolph College's campus and heard a bunch of students talking about the amazing food was at a place called "The Commons". Of course I just had to check it out considering I hadn't eaten anything and had been on the road for five hours that day. As I walked into "The Commons" I hear music of which I am not familiar with (later on a student told me it was Jay-Z playing) blaring through the rooms. The cafeteria people are dancing as if no body is watching and singing at the top of their lungs banging pots and pans with a smile on their face. The students form a line and walk around the different counters so I followed as my eyes gazed over all the food. Back where I come from we did not eat unhealthy foods and sticked to salad and fruits. It seemed that all the food there was the complete opposite. I had never seen such food like this. I wondered how the people of Randolph College didn't become obese. I finally decided my dinner would consist of something called a "peanut butter chunk brownie" and "pasta with vodka sauce". The pasta was swirly and looked almost fake and the brownie looked like dirt. I was nervous to try it. Next stop was finding a seat. Everyone was separated by different tables almost by category. A group of boys with long hair that carried funny sticks with nets on the end sat at one table, a group of girls dressed in all pink sat at another, and another group that had books piled high and laptops sat at a completely different one. I had never seen this before, and was scared I would pick the wrong table. What kind of place is this...

http://roanoke.edu/Images/com_300w.gif