The first day of classes began on a Monday Morning in Late August. The whole idea was very intimidating to her. Three classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then three classes on Tuesday and two on Thursday. She had all her books except the one for the required Freshman 101 class. This course seemed like a waste, but it is a requirement of all freshmen. Zoey went to her Western Civilization course first and was excited to see several familiar faces both from the teams as well as from high school. She sat down Trey sat next to her to the right and Bryan sat to her left. She found after listening to the professor and reading the syllabus this would prove to be a challenging class. Lots of dates, times, and details to remember to which she was never particularly good. After class, she and Trey, and Bryan compared schedules. She and Trey had Calculus in the afternoon together, she was on her own in her music theory class at the music building and then she and Bryan had all their Tuesday and Thursday classes together. She was kind of relieved to know someone else would be in her Biology, Ethics, Freshman 101, and the biology lab on Thursday afternoons. Monday's classes went well but were very tiring. When she got out of class finally at 4:00 pm, all she wanted to do was revert to those childhood naps she avoided. She had first-day homework even though it was not due until Wednesday, she knew putting it off would not serve her very well and she would end up so busy that she would end up forgetting all about it. She also had practice at 6, which meant that somewhere in there she had to make plans to eat something. One thing many folks were not aware of when it came to Zoey, was as she was a type-1 diabetic and had been since she was one year old. This was something she had under control but did not want the stress of college to cause any flair-ups. She took her daily insulin, and it had been great and in control. Jay, Trey, Melissa, and Bryanna did not even know about it. She did counsel at the local counseling center, kids who have been through abuse and those with disabilities, and even a special class for young adults under 18 who have diabetes and are learning how to handle this and everyday life.
The dining hall was unique. A large open two-tiered room. Many choices to choose from almost like going to the local Sizzler Buffet. You had choices from breakfast cereal for dinner, making a salad, a sandwich, pizza, or the chef's choice. You came into the dining hall, swiped your school ID card and you were in the hall to eat. Zoey made her way in, got her salad, tea, and a chicken sandwich, and found a table. Before she knew it the hall wall was full of the rumbles of laughter, screeches, and bellows from many different students. As she ate, several soccer members joined her as they ate and then made the dash down to the field.
Soccer practice was the same as every other practice. The team meeting and drills, except today CK, had the Women's team scrimmage the Men's Team. He asked Zoey to videotape the scrimmage so the team could watch it later. He wanted the team to look and study it while pulling out things to work on for the weekend game coming up. There was also some other news CK had. He was only going to be coaching the men's teams and Coach Tara and her daughter Mollie would be the new coaches hired for the women's team to allow both teams the same opportunities. The scrimmage went well with minimal injuries. The coaches announced that instead of practice tomorrow we would be meeting in the dining hall conference room to grab our dinner watch the video and discuss possible ways to improve.
The coaches discussed concerns and position changes as well as positive things they were seeing. The coaches wanted to be sure everyone was prepared for the next away game against Bridgeport College on Thursday. We would take a bus to Bridgeport on Saturday evening and drive back Sunday night after the game, and everyone would have a Monday excused from classes to recover but each individual team member is responsible for their work. While on the discussion of work the coaches announced the requirement of every individual on the team to spend 8 hours a week in the library studying. This meant each member must sign in and out and have a librarian initial it in hopes of keeping everyone focused on their studying.
The week came and went, and Zoey stayed busy with practice and classes. At Friday's practice, she asked the plan for when they would arrive at the away college. The coach said they could rest, walk the campus, or grab something to eat in one of the local restaurants within walking distance. Zoey agreed.
