College thus far has been an amazing journey filled with new opportunities, people, and experiences. As great as first semester was for me, my second semester, even in just the few weeks that I have been back at school, has already been more exciting. I have met more people and have opened myself up to greater opportunities and experiences.

Such change in my social life occurred when I changed my mentality. I realized over Christmas break that I had not made the most of my time in college throughout my first semester. I missed out on so many experiences and thus missed the chance to meet amazing people and to grow as a person. I truly watched my first semester go by through snap chat stories and instagram posts. Experiences that I could have had, I had to watch pass by me because I let other people's schedules control my own and was too afraid to go out and do the things that I wanted to do by myself.

For my second semester though, I challenged myself to be my own advocate- to go out into the world and to do the things that I want to do without hesitating at other people's timidity. With that said, I have had to do many things by myself this semester, but that's ok because in the end it is so worth it. I have had to meet new friends by myself and go to events by myself, but I have learned so much about my abilities in doing that.

Being your own advocate means you take charge of your own life and don't allow others to dictate how you live it. More so, it is never living in regret for opportunities that you did not take, but it is, instead, growing through what you experienced. By being your own advocate, you are unlocking the doors to the amazing world that college is. It is a place where you will mess up and make mistakes, but it is also a place where you will learn from such mistakes and grow as a person. Go out, be your own advocate, and live your life to the fullest because college will go by fast and all you will have are the memories that you make.