1ST STUDENT - EVER - TO GET HIT BY A CAR WHILE IN THIS PROGRAM!

So, if you all read my last blog entry you will remember how happy I was for 2016 to begin. Looking forward to the new challenges I will be facing as I continue with my College Experience Program.

Then this happened....

It was a Friday night and I was so excited to kick off my weekend because I had had such an awesome week at school. One of our staff members, Emma, who is a real girly girl spent some time with me teaching me how to curl my hair without frying it. I put on a cute outfit, did my make-up and with Emma's help did my hair. I called my parents to let them know that I was heading out to catch a bus and spend the evening at the mall with 2 of my friends from the program. We were going to grab something to eat and I needed to buy a new winter coat as mine just wasn't cutting the cold days here in Albany.

We headed out to catch the bus. It literally stops right across the street from my apartment. We realized we were going to miss it because we saw people getting on as we were standing outside my house. We quickly tried to cross the street in hopes of still making it on the bus. My anxiety was through the roof. It was cold, it was dark and like I said I was feeling unusually anxious. I hate crossing the streets in the city because I'm never sure when it is appropriate for me to cross. Especially at this crosswalk. First of all the crosswalk paint is faded and there is no clear signal for pedestrians to know when to cross. You know how most traffic signals have the "walk" or "don't walk" sign? You know the hand that is either white or red? Well, this signal did not have that. Anyway, the cars were stopped for their red light and we went for it. What happened next is still a little unclear to me. We were caught in the crosswalk when the light changed. The next thing I knew I was bumped and thrown. according to a few witnesses - about 5 feet!! I GOT HIT BY A FREAKING CAR!!!

I swear at that moment I felt someone grab me by the collar - I felt my grandmother with me. Like she was getting me up and off the street before I got hit again. After getting thrown, I quickly got up off the pavement; like a deer that gets hit and runs off into the woods. I heard a woman ask me if I was ok but I must have been in shock because I just ran! I ran back to my apartment house....screaming bloody murder the whole time. I was screaming for help. The few students and staff in the house heard my screams. My friend, Matt, later told me he thought I was being abducted. I was screaming that I got hit by a car and was yelling that I was going to sue the person who hit me. I don't even know why that was the first thing I said. The woman who hit me, the same woman who asked if I was ok, was with me the whole time while we were waiting for an ambulance to come. By the way, I am not suing anybody - accidents happen, right?

I wanted my mom and dad. My phone got knocked out of my pocket and was in the middle of the street. One of the staff ran and got it and to my surprise it still worked! I was too hysterical to call them though. Another staff member called them for me. According to my parents they could hardly hear what he was saying because all they could hear was me - screaming at the top of my lungs. They expected the worse. We are 2 hours apart. The staff told them I appeared ok.

Once the ambulance got there they asked me all sorts of questions like what's my name, what's todays date, things like that. They wanted to make sure I didn't hit my head. I didn't. As a matter of fact I was fine! The only thing was that both of my legs and one arm was bruised pretty bad from falling on the pavement.

Faith, one of my favorite staff members, came to the hospital with me and promised she would stay all night with me. Thankfully, I didn't need to stay and I was actually back at my apartment within a few hours. It was incredibly scary being so far from home and experiencing something like this. I was hit, taken by ambulance, seen at the hospital and back home before my parents could have even made it here. As much as I wanted them with me, I felt good that I went through this and handled it as best I could without them. It's funny because all week I was feeling very confident and proud of myself and in a minute all I wanted was my "mommy and daddy". But, with my amazing friends at the College Experience Program and the great staff, I got through it.

I guess you can imagine how careful I am now with crossing. Another lesson learned here :) I also have something new to add to my resume: 1ST STUDENT - EVER - TO GET HIT BY A CAR WHILE IN THIS PROGRAM!