This week, I officially wrapped up my sophomore year of college- I am officially halfway to graduation, and I'm really, really looking forward to summer. This year has been a roller coaster and an overall pain in my ass, so I'm pretty ready to be done. That being said, I really learned a lot this year about myself- even if the things I learned had very little to do with Literature Theory or Climate Change.
1. How I Grieve
Before this year, I had never experienced a major traumatic loss. In September, my 16-year-old cousin committed suicide . I knew all the stages of grief — Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance — but I didn't really get quite how they worked. The stages of grief were all there, but I experienced them all at once. This experience taught me that everyone grieves entirely differently. Maybe some people experience the stages in nice, even sets, but that certainly didn't happen for me — even more importantly, I learned that that's okay.
2. The Importance of Prioritization
My sophomore year was incredibly busy. Beside classes and homework, I also joined a sorority and had a significant amount of work for my school's Advocate Center. I've always been pretty organized and on top of my work, but this year it was particularly important. I couldn't always just prioritize homework, because I usually had several other things to do. I started keeping a planner, which I color coded both for classes and events. There were a lot of days where I would have to choose between going to one event or going to the other, which was often a really hard decision. I was never able to get nearly as much done as I wanted to, which could be pretty hard on me as a perfectionist, but I soon learned that I wasn't a failure for not being able to do everything.
3. It's Okay to Leave People Sometimes
This year, I learned that some people just aren't good for me. There's no shame in letting people who harm you go, even if you used to be friends. Letting go of toxic people was one of the best choices I could have possibly made to start off the year, even if it was a hard decision and made for a difficult couple of months.
4. The Importance of Good Friends
Even though I met my best friends in college last year, I've loved watching our friendship grow throughout this year too. We've grown together, and they've always been there for me, no matter what I needed. I've watched them grow and change as people into who they will be when we get out of college. We've changed our majors together, done homework, studied until well into the morning, and solidified our friendship through bonds that- I hope, anyway- can't be broken. I have very little doubt that I've found the people that I will remain friends with through the rest of my life, and learned other skills that will help me in the future.
