TENSE

     So, the last couple of books that I read were written in first person present tense...I think. Sadly, my English education was lacking when it came to definitions and such. I can recognize good writing verses bad writing, it's just all the labels that get me confused. ANY WAY, as an example of what I'm talking about, here's a couple of made up sentences with the same formatting so that everyone knows what I'm talking about.

     I sit down in the only vacant seat in the room. The room has blinding white walls and the over bright lights don't help. On either side of me sits another confused looking student.
     "Hi," I say, but neither responds.

     Okay, you get the idea. I have no problem with first person storytelling. I've written a number of stories in first person and I find it a lot of fun to have full access to a single character's thoughts. But I've never read a book in this format before (first person present) and I'm not sure what to think. My natural instinct was to dislike the format, but I fear that may be my natural prejudice against the unknown. As I mentioned before, my English education left something to be desired and I have no idea whether the problem is with me or the writing. As another example, I'm use to this kind of writing:

     I sat down in the only vacant seat in the room. The room had blinding white walls and over bright lights that did nothing to help. On either side of me sat another confused looking student.
     "Hi," I said, but neither responded.


     Help me out here. Is there anything wrong with either of the above examples? Have I been wrong all this time? Are both correct? Are both incorrect? Is there a third option I haven't yet considered?