This next week, I will be getting ready for my second year of college. Am I excited? Yes. Do I still have some certain fears from last year, along with some new ones? Absolutely. Why? Well, I suppose that is an excellent question. I will just have to answer that one later.

I loved my first year of college. But with all freshmen, there is always some sort of fear. Not everyone shows it the same. Some are afraid of leaving their parents, the hours of studying, or just change in general. Whatever it is, college is a very different experience from what people are used to. Unless you get yourself properly prepared in high school, college will be a big wake-up call. Even then, you can’t get completely ready in order for college to make sense. You will have to actually experience it first hand. After that, you might be able to understand how to get through the next four years.

Compared to college, high school is a picnic. Parents are no longer there to tell you to get your homework done, give you food, or make you go to bed. Most decisions, if not all, will be up to you. New college students hold a certain new power, a very easily misused power. As practically every single Spider-Man movie says, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In the case of all college students, these words ring very true. Although this great power may not be spidey sense or super strength, college kids have the power to make choices, good or bad, that may affect their entire future. Although each decision that you make once you are born will affect the future—maybe born is stretching it a little bit—parents will not be there to pick up the pieces once you hit college. Out-of-the-house freshman need to adapt to the new responsibility placed on their shoulders, or they will most likely not make it in the adult world. Mom will not always be there to tell you to start that 10-page essay in your 300 level classes or even just tell you to do your laundry. Sorry.

When I first arrived at college, it didn’t take too long to adjust. College had always been the plan. So this was just something I had to do. If I thought I couldn’t handle my new life, I had to get over it. My parents and I weren’t just going to spend an arm and leg for me to give up. (Yes, my parents are helping me pay for college. It really helps to be an only child. By the way, thanks, Mom and Dad. You guys are great!) Anyway, in the very beginning, I didn’t think I would be able to make it in my freshman Honors class. I would hear what other students said in our discussions, and I thought to myself, “These kids are so much smarter than me. I am never going to be able to have diverse and perceptive thoughts like they do.” Here’s the thing, in college, someone will always be smarter than you. Someone else in the world will be smarter than them. It’s okay. We all grow up differently. Even our education varies. As long as you have the work ethic, you can achieve. By the way, in my Honors course, I did just fine. I even had an intelligible thing to say now and then.

Now, back to my previous question about my fears. I am afraid of the unknown, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable. Yes, those are a bunch of uns. After I came back from college, it was quite weird being well home. College had become my new home. I was leaving my set routine, again. Now, I have gotten used to my bed, along with the flat screen TV and easy chair. The late nights up and late mornings still asleep are also very nice. Not having to study or write papers has been the life. But the summer is coming to a close. Sophomore year looms ahead. All of those uns are coming back into focus.

I am going to be part of Freshman Welcome Week, so I will be back before most of the other students. I will be the only one in my dorm room. Hopefully, loneliness will not be part of my life for the next couple of days. Altogether, this coming year of college will have a new layout for me. I will be rooming with new people in a different dorm. My major has changed. And I need to figure out how to juggle 18 credits, my job, and Honors stuff. (My life could be much worse. I know. Shout out to those in sports, holding more than one job, or just doing college in general.) To be honest, I am scared of the unknown for this year but also very excited. Do I have to be strong for the upcoming freshman? Yes. I can’t just have a breakdown. That is not part of my job description, and it would be very unprofessional. But I can be vulnerable and share with them that even the seasoned college students have a hard time coming back every now and then. I should know. I’m one of them. Many of my friends are excited to go back to college, but, like me, they also are very nervous at the same time. As a small group leader, I need to encourage the new students to their transition to college life, which can be pretty hard. I understand. But hard never means impossible. It has been done before, many times in fact. Trust me college freshman, you can do this. Don’t give up on this new and exciting, yet sometimes terrifying, adventure in your life.