Before I came to college, I remember craving freedom as if it were an item you had to concretely fight to reach; as if it were hidden somewhere so beyond reality that the obstacles one had to complete to get there would have been unbearable.

My last year of high school consisted of me rebelling against final grades and a profound case of "senioritis." I remember the mornings I would purposefully prolong to miss my first-period class, the countless people I would avoid in the hallways, the classes I would resent because of all of the workload. I remember graduation day not as a celebration but as a day of relief that it was all finally over. I remember packing up my room much earlier than the departure date for my first semester as a college freshman, I shed no tears for any of the goodbye’s to the people that I had in my life for years, and I daydreamed.

I daydreamed of the moment of living in my own apartment, going to college, figuring out who I wanted to be, and determining my life career. I remember feeling invincible, thinking that no matter what, I could face it all alone. As time went on though, my idea of this exhilarating freedom started to fade away.

I completed my first semester and then my second. I met people I could study with, I met people I could go out with, and I met people I never wanted to see again. I had a first-year college relationship that completely weighed me down. But even so, I definitely created more enjoyable memories in my first two semesters as a freshman than I had ever during my High School years.

At first, I loved it. I did everything I wanted to do and more. But after my first spring semester, reality came into play and everything changed. It was like I had finally crossed the bridge I was struggling to get past during all that time. My freedom transformed from fun into responsibility. Late nights partying became exhausting and draining, eating junk food every other day became deteriorating, and so much time away from home became lonesome. I came to realize that my major did not even suffice the purpose I wanted to obtain during my lifetime or fulfill me as a student.

Thus, everything in my life began to change. I adapted to a different apartment with a new major, a new job, and a new mentality. With all of my freedom, I learned that there were always going to be two paths in front of me and it was in my hands to decide which one I wanted to take. I started to assess my life rationally instead of emotionally. I began to put my needs and goals before anyone else’s. I stopped valuing the time I spent with people that did not value my own time, for every minute counts.

In a year, freedom has led me to understand the value of my professional career, my social life, the balance between the two, and to determine my own life morals. Perhaps the freedom I awaited for during my senior year of High School was careless and more fun than the reality of the freedom I have now, but I would choose this reality over any superficiality any day.