Settling In

Dear Journal,
Getting used to life in college hasn't been easy. I'm a California kid, going to college in New York City, and questioning my decision to come to Columbia every minute. I miss home. I miss the sun. I miss palm trees. I miss the beach. Mostly, I miss my dog. The shitty weather hasn't helped my situation either; the rain and clouds never seem to leave.
I should probably stop complaining and start appreciating the fact that I am in New York City, it is 1947, and I basically have the entire world at my finger tips. I can probably doing anything I want and be anyone I want. I went to a lecture today given by a very smart Frenchwoman named Simone de Beauvoir. Going to listen to people who think they're important talk isn't really my thing, but I was happy I attended this lecture. This is her first time in NYC, first time stateside, actually. Her English isn't perfect, but the way she described America in her introduction left me starstruck. I feel like sometimes I forget where I am and why I am here. Like, this is the United States, this is AMERICA. My great-grandparents left Ireland, they came through Ellis Island, crossed the continent, settled in Orange County, for me to be able to become educated in New York City and make something of myself. Something that never could've been possible in the old country.
I need to be more observant, I have to take the world in, it has so much to offer me. The people on the streets, the people in parks, the people in bars. Everyone means something, everyone's different. How am I going to be different?
Well, isn't that the question...