My first semester of my freshman year of college was the biggest transition I have ever gone through. I know this may sound silly to some, however, at that point in my life, I had never moved anywhere, never changed schools, had just experienced my first breakup and had never shared a room (or a space with a ton of people I've never met for that matter.)

At first, I was excited, ready to move out from my house and start anew at my dream school.

My expectations were the opposite of my reality.

The hardest part about going to college was that I was comfortable with where I was at. I loved my home, which happens to only be about 15 minutes away, I loved my own bedroom, I loved being in a long-term relationship and hanging out with all the same friends I've had since the beginning of high school.

Almost all of these things changed when I stepped foot on campus, and although I was excited, I can honestly say I was not prepared.

I suddenly was a part of something much bigger than myself and was part of a community full of people who didn't know I existed. I no longer was a familiar face to people in the hall or surrounded by my family in my kitchen.

Now, I was stepping into a class full of people from all over the world and stepping into a dining hall full of people whose biggest concern was the lunch special.

The feeling of being at home was hard to find over the semester because I had far too many changes occurring at once. I was overwhelmed with meeting people at every event, trying to match names to faces, making time to attend every event, learning how to live with my best friend who somehow was constantly sick, coping with a long-term breakup, while still maintaining time to go to work, see my family and make time for the actual school work.

The stress of keeping up with all the responsibilities of life was too much to bear to the point where I was physically sick every day.

I realized at the end of the semester I was not giving myself enough time to myself or enough credit for all that have done during the semester.

Before the break, I decided I needed to remove the negativity, the insecurities and the self-consciousness aside and just have fun. I reached out to old and new friends, cut off toxic relationships and gained some newfound contentment in just spending time alone.

All those stressors have since passed due to our lovely winter break. I have since made a solid group of friends at school, joined clubs I am actually interested in (and that fit my schedule,) created more "me" time, attended all my classes and have created a space that I want to live in.

I am now getting back into my schedule, starting all new classes and connecting with the people around me more. I have begun working harder academically, professionally and mentally.

Although it has only been two weeks since classes have begun, I already can see that this semester is going to be much better than the last.