I just recently finished my first year of college at Salem State University so I wanted to reflect on the year I've had. There have been ups and downs but I feel like, overall, my first year at college was an experience I would not trade for anything. My roommate was amazing, I made some new friends, learned a lot about myself, and thought a lot about my future.

Going to college, I thought my biggest obstacle would be making friends and missing my friends from home. This was a hard thing for me to have to go through alone but I am so glad I did. My friends and I can now talk about all of our different kinds of experiences at college and learn from each other. I missed my friends from home a lot but meeting new people and fitting in with a different group of people was really detrimental in my experience at college. I noticed that I act differently around different people and I learned which type of people I can be friends with and which I cannot. Although I had a great time making friends at college, I am more than ready to spend time with my friends at home for the whole summer because I have missed them so much.

Throughout the year I have had all new experiences living partially on my own and it has been great to tackle new things in my life and adjust to the idea of being independent and doing what I want to do. I have, surprisingly, still tried to do all of my homework and study when I can and my grades have gotten even better than my grades in high school were. I worked really hard to keep up with the college work load all while making friends, coming home to see my family, and figuring out this new way of life.

While my first year is over, I am fully aware that I have three more years and each semester will be harder than the last. I am going to embrace that head on and hopefully get to study abroad and find internships and jobs I will really like. I can't wait to see what my future has in store!