Everyone dreams of what college will really be like. Graduating high school is a huge accomplishment, and looking forward to what’s next can be exciting and nerve-racking. After spending the summer of a lifetime traveling and having adventures with the best friends you’ve known for years, it’s hard to say goodbye and start a new adventure of your own. Those small fears aside, you couldn’t be more excited to experience college and all it has to offer.
Here’s the thing, what a lot of people forget to tell you is, no matter how great college is, you’re going to be experiencing some not so great emotions with it. You’re going to learn hard lessons, but these lessons are going to get you through the rest of your life. You’re going to become pretty homesick the first few weeks, but it’ll help you appreciate your home that much more. You’re going to be stuck in tough situations, but these situations are only going to make you stronger.
Sooner or later, though, you’ll find where you belong. You’ll make amazing new friends, experience things you never dreamed of and it’ll start to feel more and more like home as the months pass.
You’ll still keep in contact with your friends from back home and that’s great. You’ll learn that these are the people who will cross bridges to make sure you’re OK. They have always been there for you and they always will be. On your tough days, you’ll call or FaceTime them crying, they’ll tell you everything will be alright and somehow hearing that will make it all better. These people are everything to you, and you know now, no matter where you go, they will always be a part of your life.
You’ll also realize pretty quickly that not all your friends from home will stay with you forever. That’s OK. Thank them for the past, for the years of friendship they gave you and move on. It’ll hurt at first and a part of you will feel like someone is missing in your life (at least for a little while), but remembering all the friends you have around you, all the ones that stayed with you and all the new ones you’ve met, somehow makes it easier. Not every friend is meant to stay with you for the rest of your life, but the lessons you learned from the friendship will stick with you forever.
Once you’re all settled in, life feels like it couldn’t get any better. The experience you’ve always dreamed of is finally here. But soon you realize that freedom and responsibility means making tough choices sometimes. You want to go out, but have an exam the next day? It’s probably best to stay home. You can go out another night. Right now, focus on passing your exam or writing that 10-page paper.
Every once in a while, remember to put the books down. Grades and classes are important, but so is fun. Go out with your friends, grab a late night snack with your roommates, go on adventures and do things you wouldn’t normally do. Make as many memories as you possibly can. The grades are important, but the times spent adventuring are the days and nights you’ll remember most.
By the second semester, you’ll have your friend group. These people will pretty much become your second family. You’ll hang out together, have meals together, go on adventures, go to class and study your butts off together, and then all of a sudden, your freshman year is coming to a close. You’ll look back at the first few days of college and laugh because of how terrified you were. Those first days and nights were hard. You were alone for the very first time and it was terrifying. Yet, you see how much you’ve grown since then. You’ve learned how to be responsible and take care of yourself. You’ve learned how to do things on your own and have become your own person. For some reason, your future seems a little less daunting and unknown.
Freshman year taught me so many things. It showed me who my true friends were back home. It helped me find new ones at my new home away from home. It put me out of my comfort zone and helped me create the most wonderful memories with the most amazing people. Most importantly, it helped me find myself. It helped me grow into the person I am today and reminded me that my fears are nothing, but facing those fears is truly everything.
