I remember when I got off the plane
A mix of emotions rushed through me
Nervousness
Excitement
Mr. Brent was the one who picked us up
While he was fumbling through his pockets for his drivers licence,
he held a Styrofoam container of Chinese food
_
The bus ride was about an hour long
All the kids had panic struck emotions on their faces
Only a few had made other friends
I looked out the window and saw other cars passing by,
one by one
_
When I got off the bus,
the warm Texas air felt great on my skin
The bus driver handed me my bag
This is really it I thought
We followed behind Brent as he took us to Dean Hall
It was a nice brick building
with glass doors
We lined up inside to get our key cards and dorm keys
I couldn't stop thinking about what my life was going to be like for three weeks
I remember the guy in front of me had a bag of gummy bears
He must have seen me staring at them,
because he asked me if I wanted one
I nodded and he put some in my hand
Soon enough, I was the one at the front of the line
"First name and last name?" Kyle asked me
"Angela Sun." I replied smoothly
He ran down his long list
and handed me my green lanyard
I was then sent away with a piece of white paper
that had all the instructions for me
_
Our first RC group meeting was at five
Everyone was quiet
We didn't know one another
We walked down to dinner together
The food was okay
I remember how long the line was on that first day
After dinner, they took us to an orientation
I looked around time after time and realized
that I might not be the only nervous one
There were others
Fumbling with their hands
Twirling their hair
Cait then stepped up
She began talking to us about rules
_
The first day of class was nerve racking
I didn't know anyone
I saw my TA holding Roonie
I walked up to her and smiled
Then Roonie's head fell off
"He needs surgery." I remember her telling me
After everyone was gathered together,
we walked to the idea center
Everyone was on the second floor,
but we were on the third
Our instructor was really nice
The first thing we got were our sound off buttons
It was from the phonetic alphabet
Mine was Juliet
The guy behind me got India
and the one in front got Kilo
_
The first dance of TIP was an exciting experience
It was also our first time skipping evening study
I remember going back to Dean and just taking a nap
We all walked down to the black box together
Just dance was playing when we walked in
I didn't really dance,
just kind of awkwardly stood there
Then towards the end,
they played American Pie
_
The first week at TIP passed by really slowly,
but the second and third went by in the blink of an eye
The last dance at TIP was the most emotional
I remembering bawling my eyes out during American Pie
Everyone just felt so connected to one another
It felt amazing
When we got back to Dean,
my friends and I sat in a circle and just cried
We talked about how much we were going to miss TIP
How much we loved each other,
and we promised to come back next year
_
The last day was the most emotional
During the slide show,
I started crying all over again
I remember leaving early so I could pick up the pizzas I ordered with my friends
After we ate,
I went up to the third floor
It was crowded,
loud,
and noisy
But we were all together,
so nothing really mattered
I remember hugging everyone tight,
because I was leaving early in the morning
_
The next morning,
I was down in the lobby with my suit case
We got on the bus
and it was like the first day I came
Only this time,
I was leaving
Leaving one of the best experiences I've ever had
