Land Down Under

As of today, I am officially a college graduate!!!!  That post will likely be for next week but until then, this weeks "featured friend" is about Vlad Zecevic.  I tried to pack this with as many inside jokes as possible so if something doesn't make sense, that's probably why.

LA

I told some people in the fall last year that I was "getting an exchange student" for the spring semester and didn't really explain much else.  In short, the program pairs a CSU student with an exchange student and the CSU student is supposed to help get the exchange student settled in the first week they arrive.  Here's my story:

In the fall of 2013, I got an email from CSU's study abroad office saying they were taking applications for a volunteer position as a peer mentor (although I hate that term) for an incoming exchange student.  One of my favorite things about studying abroad was talking to and making friends with people from around the world, and that's not the easiest thing to do when you're in the US, so I decided to apply.  Apparently it was fairly competitive to get accepted so I was happy when I got the email saying I would be participating in the program.  Little did I know, what was to follow would introduce me to one of my new best friends.

I waited about a month until I got the email saying I would be paired with this kid from Australia named Vlad.  I immediately proceeded to Facebook stalk him, as one does in this day and age.  After the initial stalking, I thought we would be civil towards each other but maybe not be the best of friends or have a lot in common.  I would have been happy with a quick check-in every few weeks.

I emailed Vlad probably one of the dumbest introduction emails anyone has ever sent but CSU had a list of topics I had to talk about in my first message so I was just following the rules.  After reading his response, I was fairly sure we would get along.  A few emails later, we figured out we had two classes together.

When the time came for me to pick Vlad up at the CSU transit center, I was "super" excited.  The first day we went to the store and got him moved into his dorm.  The rest of the week was making sure he was awake and that he showed up for various orientation events.  After the week, my commitment to the program was pretty much over but I kind of enjoyed hanging out with him so we continued to do so.

For Spring Break, we got to go to New York and Los Angeles which was incredibly fun!  As of today, we are in Portland (after sprinting through the airport to make our flight) for a bit so he can see arguably the best part of the US...just saying.

Disneyland...accurate.

Here's a few things I've learned about Vlad:

• He inhales food and chugs coffee
• He could easily sleep for a week straight and still be tired
• That being said, he's nocturnal
• His obsession with Lebron James is very real  
• He takes more selfies than anyone I know, male or female.

And here are some of my favorite memories:

• Fuzzy Thursdays (good job pressing the button)
• Spring break week
• Our deep late night chats
• All the Stanley references
• Watching him try and make pasta

Anyways, just wanted to give a shout out to one of my new best friends and let him know that when he has to go back to Australia on Wednesday, he will be greatly missed.  Thanks for being such an amazing friend and letting me travel around the US with you.  I could not have asked for a better exchange student.

There's so much more I could say but the cheesiness level is already too high.  I can't wait to see you in Australia/Europe/back in the US, whichever comes first!     

By the way Vlad, I expect multiple updates every few days to keep me in the loop. 

Ooohhhhhh no Taco Bell.  That's all for now.  Bye.