College: Patience – It is a virtue!

I am writing this for all the females out there who are scared, apprehensive and even a little anxious about college. Listen, I remember the summer right before entering my freshman year of college like it was yesterday. I was SO ready for a new beginning. I took this summer to completely reinvent myself and take care of myself. I was totally done with the high school drama of my friends and the utter immaturity of the guys. I wanted new people in my life. But, I ESPECIALLY wanted new guys in my life. I could not wait to meet new people and maybe even to fall in love. Now, I do not want to put a damper on anyone’s mood, but I want to keep it completely real. I want to simply tell all of you what I wish someone told me before I entered my freshman year. Now, this is not to belittle the love I have for college. Seriously, it will be one of the best times of your entire life. You will completely find out so much about yourself, and it is a time to completely to embrace the inherent changes deep within yourself in order to burgeon into your full being. I am writing this article partly because I am so excited for each and every one of you and partly because I am jealous of each of you. I cannot reiterate enough how IMPORTANT it is to find out about yourself in college. But also, I want all of you to truly cherish your time in college and to start each day with gratitude. When I started my freshman year, I wanted to keep a journal. I started strong for a couple of days, but then you know how things get: you simply “do not” have time. I am telling you right now, you do have time. And if I could go back, I wish I did narrate the rollercoaster of a time college has been. Even if you are like me and do not start journaling, at least take A LOT of pictures. You will want these memories to last and honestly, you will want these memories to share with your family and friends when you are older.

Probably one of the most important things that I had to learn during college was the importance of patience. Patience in every aspect. Patience with yourself. Patience with friends. Patience in academics. Patience with your studies. Patience with your career. Patience, patience and more patience. I have always been a stubborn person. I have always wanted things to come quickly in life and have a set plan; however, college has taught me the importance of embracing the ride and learning how to accept things to come naturally. Honestly, everything happens for a reason. Looking back, I have genuinely believed that every step I have taken during college has led me to the path I wanted to come. For instance, it is entirely okay to be undecided with what you want to study in college. I went into college thinking I wanted to be pre-med. Soon enough, I realized pre-med was not for me. Then, I thought maybe I was interested in communications. I took an intro to communication class, and it sort of had a psychology spin to it. Thus, I took an intro to psychology course, and I thought I could honestly see myself pursuing a career in psychology. So, next semester rolled around, and I took another psychology course, which was an overview of all of the psychological disorders. It was also in this course that I met someone who was recruiting for a job at my schools credit union, a bank, and I applied. Guess what, I got the internship, which lead to my internship in investment banking for the summer. But as summer has rolled around, I have realized that maybe banking is not for me, so I began reaching out to friends that I know that are in graduate school for psychology. Okay, enough of this about me. The point of the matter is, you really need to learn the beauty of patience in college. The saying that “patience is a virtue” is entirely and utterly true. Because with patience, doors open. The doors to your future and they open to world of opportunities and the beauty of life.