"Done."
"It is finished."
"And it was good."
With the hit of 'send,' my second year of university concluded. How did I get here? How has it been two years since I declared what university I would go to? How much I've grown since I was the bright-eyed, freshly eighteen-year-old and lost freshman who hadn't seen the campus until she moved her stuff into her dorm.
I'm past the halfway point of my college career, or, well... almost. Here are some things I've learned along the way:
1. Find the person that refuels your soul
I'm not talking about your soulmate, I'm talking about the person you call when life is falling apart or you just need them to tell you "I'm proud of you." Find that person and do everything you possibly, physically and mentally can to keep them in your life. Invest in them as they have in you. Do not let them go.
2. You do you, boo
It took me a week of procrastinating a research paper to remember that I can't write a paper and take research notes both on the computer, I have to hand write my notes. I have to have the physical papers to sort through, rather than the extensive Word document. Find what works best for you and do it: no one is judging how you study or how you do homework.
3. Pursue what gives you life
My mother isn't orthodox, and she's never been a stickler for 'pursuing the most profitable option' (that'd be my dad's department,) but the one thing I've learned, which she always reminds me of, is "do it because you like it, not because you feel pressured to pursue it." Of course, there are the obvious limits: do your homework, don't do something that would get you expelled etc. Her point is that if writing in the newspaper gives you joy you better write in the school paper, and if you don't just coast you pursue leadership.
4. Invest in who you live with
Disclaimer: I'm a recovering hypocrite in this regard.
Your roommate is your life-mate, whether it is for four months, eight months or four years. Your hall is your community and chances are they are stressed when you're stressed, and they are homesick when you're homesick. Dig in and get messy, invest in such a way that the idea of graduating and leaving them behind breaks you in the best way possible.
5. Don't settle, never settle
Why did I write a research paper on English in Bollywood rather than a paper on the history of the printing press? The printing press is bae, I know. Trust me, I'm a huge fan of Gutenberg, but it didn't stretch me. It didn't make me go, "Huh, why have I never known this?" There are short-cuts, and then there is cutting corners. What you learn in college ultimately is up to you. Don't sell yourself short and don't place a cap on your abilities.
So far in my two years of university, my one and a half of living on my campus here in Oregon and my semester abroad in Germany I've learned this: life is your oyster, and college is your boat.
