Personally, my life has been made up of several long-distance relationships because of all the times I've moved. I have learned how transient this time in our life is. Everyone tells you that college is the best four years of your life, but no one can prepare you for how fleeting those four years are. I am having a hard time accepting that I am already halfway finished with my time at Elon University. I go abroad for my fall semester and when I return I will only have a year and half left of school, and let me tell you, I’m going to live every moment to its fullest. Each year, I watch all of the seniors come and go as they move onto live their life and spread all over the country for graduate school, jobs or any other post-graduate adventures.
Coming to college freshman year, I could have never even pictured myself living on my own in a big city and working for a company. At the same time, I didn’t anticipate how much college was going to change me as a person. Looking back at myself in high school, I was still a little unsure of who I was and what I wanted to do with my life. I have learned more about myself in two years of college than I did during all four years of high school. Each person you meet plays a role in the person you are becoming. They help you grow and evaluate what you want in a friendship, relationship or how you want to be portrayed.
As college changes you, it changes your relationships. I look back at pictures from freshman year and I may have been best friends with someone that I barely talk to anymore. Why is that? Why do we let go of some friends and keep others? Are they meant to play a role later in our college careers, later in life or are they just a faded memory? I have a hard time accepting the fact that you can let some people become faded memories. I think timing and distance can be difficult to make it work sometimes, but if it is meant to be it will be. Sometimes it’s good to let people go for a little so you can focus on other things. You want to be the best possible version of yourself before you bring someone else into your life. Distance from those you care about helps you realize what they meant to you in the past, if you miss them and if you should try to make an effort to keep them in your life.
College is messy. You will probably walk away from people you wish you didn’t. At the same time, we’ve all gotten involved with someone and looked back with our friends, yelling at them for not stopping you. It’s a part of college though, and you just have to let some things happen. You have some regrets on the nights you drink too much and may say and do things you most likely won’t remember. You will make some questionable outfit choices. Your food and diet choices can almost be even more questionable.
You have four years to mess up and repair. It’s a constant cycle of becoming the real you. You can’t let your mistakes and the complications of distance and timing hold you back from becoming your full potential. Stay true to who you are in all that you do and you will find your way.
