After my first year at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, I thought to myself, "Wow, college really isn't that bad." I remembered reading some advice about college where there were three different things one wants to achieve in college: good sleep, good social life, and good grades. The advice was to simply choose two out of the three things because having a social life, getting somewhat good grades, and getting decent sleep every night was merely impossible. To my surprise, throughout freshman year, I achieved all three goals with no problems at all. Finishing my freshman year of college, I felt good about the friends I made, the grades I received, and the seven plus hours of sleep I got (almost) every night. Going into sophomore year, I thought these goals would be met and even more easily met having one year of college under my belt.

Oh, how I was wrong.

So far, sophomore year has been my hardest year of education. I know that people say that as you get older in college, classes get harder. Yes, that is a given. But, it's not only the classes that are teaching me what college is really all about, it's the new responsibilities I have put on myself. As a young, careless freshman, I wasn't involved in one club or organization. My friends and I put together an intramural volleyball team, but we realized that the weekly matches were at the same time as "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," so we dropped out of the league pretty quickly. Getting involved in research, creating a network with professors, cooking on your own, needing to make Target runs three times a week on top of keeping up with academics are just some of the many responsibilities I have been involved in throughout the first semester of sophomore year.

And, I am loving every minute of it.

This is really what college is about: staying incredibly busy. With each new responsibility that comes my way, I think about how naive I was last year to do as little as possible just so I could get by with the bare minimum. With each new responsibility, I think about how similar this is to the scary real world that I will soon be emerged in. Compared to last year, I have been more challenged than ever. With each accomplishment of anything, such as making a new dinner on my own and submitting an Odyssey article each week, I feel nothing but appreciation for what being in college has taught me so far and all the incredible journeys I have been through. Yes, college is very difficult and it may not be for everyone. The classes are hard and sometimes even impossible to get an above average grade. But, it's not all about the academics. With every year of college comes new opportunities to express your identity based on more than just your transcript. This is exactly what I am and will be taking advantage of in the years to come throughout my college education.