Dear 2016,

When I was starting high school, 2014 seemed like a lifetime away. The thought of that number was overwhelming. Yet here I am, a sophomore in college. High school may not have gone by in the blink of an eye, but it surely went a lot faster than my 14-year-old self had predicted. Coming into college, I had the wisdom of my experience to know just how fast my time here would come and go. And man, is it flying by faster than high school ever could have.

It seems that 2018 is a mere stone throw away, and you, 2016, mark the halfway point of this massive endeavor. I can't even believe in a few short months I will be headed back home, not for a couple of holiday weeks, but a whole summer. To do what exactly, I'm not yet sure, but I'm hoping you can give me some extra luck with my internship applications.

Don't get me wrong, fall of freshman year dragged on. Leaving home, taking challenging classes, meeting new people and trying to stay sane through it all was torture. I ultimately learned so much in such a short period of time. Once I finally felt comfortable in my newfound home, the days flew off the calendar. Seriously, if you think of some cheesy cartoon where the pages are literally flying off at warp speed — that basically sums up my college experience thus far. I don't know why, and honestly, I can't complain because every day I'm more excited to see where I will go and where this adventure will take me.

So, 2016, here's what I have to say to you: slow down, speed up, I don't care either way. Just make sure I continue to take advantage of every day I'm granted. Never again will I have the same resources I have now at my disposal. Only a year-and-a-half into this chapter of my life, I have recognized that it is important to find opportunity in all that comes my way. If you, 2016, and the years that follow, continue to pass by at this alarming pace, I have little time to achieve everything I hope to. But who doesn't love a challenge?

In 2018, when I'm walking across that stage to receive a small piece of paper I've worked so tirelessly for, I want to know I'm leaving campus with so much more than a degree. I want to look back on the memories, the life-long friendships, the crazy adventures, world travels, eye-opening lectures, professional connections and families new and old. Knowing that and so much more cannot be tied up in a ribbon or placed in a frame.

Thankfully I've already had many of these, and I'm always grateful for that, but if you thought I was taking a break from all this dream-chasing, 2016, you have another thing coming.

Until midnight,

Your Sophomore