After my freshman year of high school, I thought I never wanted to be a freshman again. How could I ever miss that first year filled with awkwardness, naivety, and insecurity? After completing my sophomore year, I was even more certain that almost anything was better than being a freshman. 

School just seemed to get better with age. Having finished my first year at Miami this spring, however, I’ve begun to readjust my opinion on freshman year. Although my first year of high school proved to be difficult, my first year of college had me counting off the reasons why I wanted to remain a freshman at Miami forever.

1. New…Everything:

Having grown up in the same town my entire life, being a freshman meant that I got to experience countless amounts of new things. New state, new town, new friends, new memories. Although it wasn’t always easy, the change that being a freshman brought made even the most mundane things more exciting.

There’s nothing quite like the first time you walk around campus and realize you’re lucky enough to get to call this beautiful place your home for the next four years. Or the first time you try a Dividends salad and wonder how you’ve survived up until now without them in your life. Plus there’s nothing quite like your first Green Beer Day…it might as well be Christmas morning as a freshman.  

2. Freshman Dorms:

As excited as I am to live in the corridor with my sorority sisters this fall, there will always be a special place in my heart for my freshman dorm. Not only is it the place where I met most of my best friends, but also it truly became a place that I could call my home away from home. 

While I may not miss the stench of a coed dorm (sorry boys) or the occasional lack of hot water in the winter, I know that I will miss all the good times I had there. Like the time when boys from the first floor turned our hallway into a putting range or when my friend broke her bed attempting to rearrange her room at 12 a.m. on a Wednesday. I never would have thought that something so different from my childhood house could feel that much like home.  

3. The Lack of Direction, and How It’s Okay: 

Being a freshman means countless amounts of adults asking you what you’re majoring in or what you want to do after college. For a lot of us, the usual answer is, “I’m not sure yet,” to which they respond, “That’s okay, you still have plenty of time to figure it out.”

With four years of college still ahead of you, freshman year is the time to find your way without too much stress of what the real world might bring. It is a time to make your cautious transition into the world of resumes and internships, while still being able to enjoy everything Oxford has to offer in that moment.  

4. Joining a Sorority: 

Even though joining a sorority means lifelong membership, there is something about being a new member that makes the experience that much better. Between the excitement of bid day, getting showered with gifts during big/little week, and dancing in POTH with my new pledge class, being the “babies” of my sorority was one of the highlights of my freshman year. 

While I can’t wait to see what these next three years have in store for my sisters and I, I would gladly relive my new member and initiation process again if given the chance.  

5. Four More Years:  

The biggest reason I will miss being a freshman? Knowing that I still have four more years in Oxford with all the amazing people I’ve met so far. People always say that college goes by too quickly, and after this year, I fully agree with them. 

If I could slow down time in order to experience everything that Miami has to offer, I would in a heartbeat. But for all the reasons I will miss being a freshman, there are twice as many reasons I’m excited to be a sophomore this fall. Because if I learned anything in high school, it is that school (college) only gets better with age.