I definitely had expectations coming into college. But my preconceived idea of what the time spent away from home would be like was altered when I committed to go to a school without Greek life. Fortunately, and a little by chance, I joined my sports team, which helped a little in the beginning, at least socially.

I think that since I went to a tiny high school (graduating class of seven), even though I am a very outgoing person, I struggled with finding and keeping friends throughout the year, but I learned, mostly the hard way, although most of my peers probably had done so before coming to college. I’ve also committed to the floater life. I tried really hard, but the friend-group life is just not for me. So, like at home, I have friends everywhere here at school. Either individuals or groups, I value the friendships that I have so much because without my friends and the people who truly care about me, I would visit home every weekend and wouldn’t have a very enjoyable experience here.

Sigh, the freshman 15 is very true. Last summer, I told my parents that I would have the freshman negative-5, and probably the first two weeks my mostly healthy habits from summer rolled over into my school life and the weight loss was kind of attainable. It quickly ended though. I really just enjoy food and there is pretty much an endless amount of it on campus. With unlimited dining hall entries and my mom’s money on my ID card, I usually choose the wrong food to eat, and with no one monitoring it. What’s funny, is that despite the extra fat that’s on my body, there is also a substantial amount of more muscle than there has ever been before. I love looking down at my legs and seeing how strong they are, and noticing how much less I struggle in team workouts. I worked out three to four days a week almost every week at school, which makes me feel really good.

Living with someone is hard. I applaud everyone who does it by choice. My roommate and I are doing really well and have been for the last few months. Not that there was anything majorly bad within our relationship or with our living styles, but when we ran into disagreements, we took the Roommate Agreement very seriously and compromised on our problems. I’m really going to miss her, but I know I’ll see her, either over the summer or in the following years for monthly lunches. But let me say, I cannot wait to live alone next year. I’m pretty sure at every other school but my own, getting a single is rare and nobody wants it because then you’re secluded from everyone else, but here, it’s the norm for everyone after their first year to live in one and I’m so pumped (also pumped to decorate -- the language dorm has tall ceilings).

Not having my mom around to nag me to do homework definitely showed me how self-sufficient I needed to be. When I don’t have the motivation to study for my finals, I need to force myself to do so because grades are everything at this point in my life. But I have never missed an assignment! And I made it to almost every single class this entire year! (Patting myself on the shoulder.)

I also learned how to prioritize this year. To not go out and either to just go to sleep (sleep is a huge part of taking care of yourself, I cannot function without it and coffee and nap time aren't always an instant cure) or to study is a decision that I constantly choose wrong. But I’m getting there.

When I first got to college, and would go home and visit my friends and teachers at my high school, the only way I could describe college was that it was weird and was like sleep away camp with homework. I guess it’s still like that, but there’s really no way for me to describe it, you just have to experience it for yourself. And even though it's weird but really fun at the same time as well as confusing, I can’t wait to see what my sophomore year brings.