Frosh - The all-important first paragraph!

A reader can make their decision about a story in the first paragraph of reading. You have a small collection of sentences to set your tone, mood, and create a connection to the main character that will keep them reading.

Here is mine:

The drive from Alliance, Nebraska to Manhattan, Kansas was eight and a half hours. Eight and half hours of hearing how proud my parents were of me. Kansas State University wasn’t my first choice school. That honor went to Chadron State. An hour away, it would have been closer to home; closer to Kyle. My family was poor, though, and K-State had the better financial aid package in the end. At first, I had refused. My friends, the same ones I’d been in school with since pre-school, were all going to Chadron. My mother had also gone there, when she got her degree in journalism, so it made sense to me that I should do the same. It was my fiancé, Kyle, who finally convinced me to go. 

Is it amazing to believe that 5 hours of research went into this? I got a lot of notes that may be used in the future though.

Alliance, NE
As of 2000, population 8,959

Claim to fame: Carhenge. Stonehenge, with cars. Now called the Car Art Museum because additional pieces have been added. Can you believe 80,000 tourists from around the world come to see it every year?

Recreation:   

Central Park - Museums, Arboretum, Conservatory, Central Park Fountain, Sunken Garden, shelters, playground, open spaces, and Snake Creek Trail 

Laing Lake Park -  shelters, skateboard park, kid's fishing lake, and frisbee golf 

Ball fields and tennis courts - four ball field areas, eight fields, and eight tennis courts 

Snake Creek Trail - two miles paved trail from Central Park to Laing Park
Major religions: Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist

Manhattan, KS "Little Apple"

Population: 52, 836 - 8th largest city in Kansas

Located near Fort Riley (Army base)

College town

Entertainment district is called "Aggieville"

Most private schools in Nebraska carry religious affiliations.