My name is Sam Greenwood, I’m a first year student at Chatham. I’m from Buffalo, NY, which is about 4 hours away from Chatham. At first, the transition from living at home to living at school was tough, because I had never lived away from home before (the longest I had ever been away was 10 days :) ). After the first week though, everything got a lot easier. When you first get to Chatham, there are so many activities that let you get to know your classmates. Most of them are corny, but they’re a lot of fun.

My first week, I went camping with the other first year students, tied dyed a Chatham t-shirt, decorated a fish bowl, and went to a comedy show. It sounds silly, but I made a lot of great friends that way, and it made the transition much easier. My dad always said not to let “the highs get to high or the lows get to low,” handy advice during this period of time. More practically, having things like posters, calendars, cards from friends and family, things you like to eat, etc. can make it seem more like home until you really settle in. I’ve found the settling to be pretty easy at Chatham. Everyone here is really friendly and supportive, and there are a lot of students who will be in the same boat you will, and most are more than willing to talk about it with you. Once classes, clubs and sports start the semester flies by, and you’re home before you know it.