I’m currently sitting with my friend on her bed, pretending to be studying for one of the three finals I have coming up this week. Instead, I’m talking to you. You’re welcome, by the way. As I’m sure you’ve gleaned from the title, this is going to be my reflection on my freshman year of college. You get to essentially serve as my diary. Lucky you. This year has been, to put it plainly, batshit crazy. I’ve made the Dean’s List, maxed out on credits, gotten a job, become a double major, joined a professional fraternity, and started planning a semester abroad.

College is both everything and nothing like I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be overwhelming and stressful and crazy. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I do. I wasn’t expecting to do as well as I have. Honestly, I’m really proud that I’ve survived without the constant supervision of my mother. However, there are some things I regret about my freshman year.

I spent a lot of time at the beginning sulking in my room, throwing myself a pity party because I hadn’t gotten the hang of the whole “college” thing yet. I wish I had spent that time outside on campus, meeting new people and absorbing my new home. I wish I had said “yes” to more things - like midnight trips to the Empo or the live Rocky Horror show at Tim’s in October (a UD staple). I wish I had gone out more, to build my repertoire of “Oh my gosh! Remember that night when…” stories to share with my college friends 20 years from now.

Despite my regrets, I’m also really proud of what I’ve accomplished in my freshman year. My GPA is the highest it has ever been. I’ve maxed out on credit hours while working an on-campus job and going through the new member process for my fraternity (Phi Beta Chi, if you were wondering). I also became a double major this semester and started to plan my semester abroad for the fall of my junior year (IRELAND!!!!!).

Now, none of this came easily. I have worked my ass off all year to get where I am. I’ve spent too many nights to count in the library and sustained myself for days on end by drinking absurd amounts of Mountain Dew. I’ve met with professors, worked in study groups, studied at work in my free time, studied in my own free time, and done whatever was necessary to achieve my goals. Some of those nights I didn’t go out were for the good of my grades, and those nights I don’t regret even one little bit. I recently turned in a ten page historiography paper on Ku Klux Klan violence in the Reconstruction South as a function of white supremacy in America. That one paper was a fifth of my grade in a class that makes up nearly half of the credits I’m taking this semester. I’ll be conservative and say I spent at least 48 hours on that paper.

College is amazing. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but its also the best thing I’ve ever done. So that’s my first year. Done.