Everybody says when you go to college you will change. I’m still convinced I might change over my four years here but I have also discovered something else. So far, I have changed less than I expected I would by now, but I have learned a lot more about myself, so here are 5 things I’ve learned so far.
1. Failure isn’t the end.
I have never done bad on a test before. My very first college exam I got back and it was not good. I ended up just being mad at myself. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do and felt very panicked. But it taught me a lesson. Sometimes you have to get back up and try again. My first Physics exam went a lot better than the other exam. I learned how much more important studying was in college compared to
high school where I didn’t have to study as much.
2. Making time for everything can be a struggle.
I know I personally wanted to be involved in everything. 4.5 classes, 5-10 clubs, auditions, books to read, papers to write, friends to hang out with. It can start to seem like everything is building up on you at once. Sometimes you really don’t have time and you have to make some sacrifices. Other times, you just have to take a step back, take a deep breath, and then get back to work. Also, understand that you cannot say yes to everything. I have a tendency to say yes to everything. That is how I ended up on email lists for clubs that I had never even thought about joining until I walked past them at Scot Spirit Day. Sometimes a simple no is necessary.
3. Making friends isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
I have a great group of friends already. My roommate and I get along very well, so that helps a lot. My favorite story on how I made one of my friends is from the night of the president’s dinner. My roommate and I were sitting at a table in Kittredge and a girl from our
dorm walked up to us and
said “Are you going to leave if I sit here?” We said no and then she joined us for dinner. From there on, we became friends. Now, a group of eight of us hang out a lot and we are all from the same dorm. I feel like I always have somebody to go to no matter what.
4. Sometimes the classes will seem hard, but it is possible to make it through them.
Going back to that first exam, I still have to work harder in that class than any of my other classes combined. And sometimes it will seem next to impossible, but it isn’t always. Recently, I heard my Physics
professor say something I found to be very interesting. His very first Physics class in college he thought about dropping because of the combination of the difficulty of the class and the professor. It helped me to realize that no matter how hard the classes may seem if I work hard
enough, I will make it through it.
5. Not everybody is going to like you and support you, but the people who do are what matters the most.
I grew up in a community where everybody seemed to support me. Even here, everybody is very supportive. Now, when I go home, it does not seem as though everybody is supporting me. The people I always thought were there for me still are. That has not changed. But now, there are people I can see more clearly who do not support me and in fact do not even like me. It has taught me that it does not matter who does not support me. The people who do are who matter. They are there for me no matter what. And they are the ones who make me feel better in the end. Those are the important people in my life. Those are the people I want to keep in my life.
Maybe I haven’t changed as much as I thought I would by now based on what I have heard. But I have learned a lot that I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else.
