Levine Scholars Program

Hey everyone!

My name is Chloe` Rodengen and I’m a freshman in the Levine Scholars Program here at UNCC. This is my first blog entry…so I’m going to go ahead and give this a shot!

To start you off, I’m from South Florida so adjusting to Charlotte has been a big change for me. One of the biggest changes has definitely been the weather! I have never ever seen the leaves change and tend to freak out a bit every time I walk outside because it’s so beautiful (and cold! we’ll for me at least). Not to say that palm trees and beaches aren’t nice too, but there is definitely something special about having four seasons. Yes, I think its safe to say that I’m falling in love with fall. :)

A few weeks ago, my suite mate Bethany invited me and a few other friends to her house near Asheville, NC so I could see the true leaves changing in the mountains for the first time. We hopped in the car and drove about an hour and a half west until we reached her house near the Appalachian mountain range. Since we left at night, I had no idea what to expect in the morning. When I woke up and walked towards the kitchen, I set my eyes on one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen. There was so much color everywhere! Here’s a picture of the mountains from Bethany’s balcony. For a native Floridian, this was definitely one thing I wish I had growing up.

After a great breakfast of pancakes that Bethany whipped up for us, we jumped back into the car and drove down to South Carolina (which was only about 15-20 min away!) and saw this gorgeous little area by a creek that had a bridge built back in the 1820’s.

We walked around the area, took some fun pictures and just had a really peaceful and relaxing afternoon. Here’s a picture of the four of us with the beautiful leaves in the background!

(Anna, Kailey, Bethany and me!)

We then drove back to North Carolina and ate at this cute little pizzeria/bakery in downtown Saluda. We ordered a mushroom and goat cheese pizza to share and let me tell you, I’ve never had such a delicious pizza in my life. Full and content, we packed up and took the drive back to Charlotte.

This trip was definitely a lot of fun and I had such a great time being immersed into fall for the first time! I’m definitely getting to experience a lot of really cool things here in Charlotte, the change in seasons for sure being one of them. Looks like winters right around the corner though! Uh oh, guess I better get ready for snow, there’s a first time for everything I suppose, haha.

Thanksgiving break is coming up in a few days though, so It’ll be nice to get a little taste of home (and the glorious 75 degree weather) before going into finals in just a couple weeks. I can’t believe how fast this semester has gone by! Hope you all have a wonderful day :) thanks for reading, I’ll be back soon!

Love,

Chloe`