Freshman Year of college has been a ride for sure. I have experienced some really high highs and some deep lows. Growing up, I have always pictured being older, but I never dreamt of the college life.

I don’t know why, but going into college I was scared out of my mind to even leave my hometown. After being away and experiencing college life, I am so grateful that I have left my hometown and that I went to college. I don’t know why, but a part of me never thought that I would actually leave for college.

I guess part of me was scared to actually become an adult. It’s always fun to be an adult in theory because there is so much freedom. Kids live such structured lives, and they don’t have as much freedom.

With freedom, comes responsibility and that is the scariest part. That’s the part that makes adulthood not as fun, and real. The real world is hard, especially coming from a town where not many bad things even happen to begin with.

Before coming to college, I essentially lived in this bubble where there were only good things. I didn’t know a lot about the real world, and college taught me that really quickly, and it popped my bubble. Going through that, and experiencing it was the scariest thing of my life.

Freshman Year was my first taste of the real world, and although it was the hardest and weirdest time of my life, it was also the best time of my life. I have done a lot of cool things, and I have learned so many life lessons that I am glad I learned in college.

First, I learned a lot of cool things and I learned that being an adult is scary, but totally doable, and it takes discipline. The discipline part is all about just holding yourself accountable and doing things that are just not fun. Personally, I hate doing laundry and cooking, but I do it because I want to be clean, and I need to nourish myself.

I’ve also learned life lessons in college, and life lessons that can be talked about for days on end on why they are so important, but you really need to experience them to understand why they are important. A big life lesson is that not everyone is motivated and is passionate about school. That’s so hard for me because I came from a high school were everyone cared and wanted to be the best.

On the other hand, I learned how to not to care about everything, primarily the rules. That is so hard for me to do because I am such a rule follower, and I get anxiety when I break the rules. I go into this state of paranoia, and not everyone cares about them, so I had to stop caring that they don’t care.

Basically, I had to learn how to go with the flow, and to do my thing and accept that others are going to be it differently. That is the hardest lesson I have learned because I am so passionate about school and following the rules, that when people break them, I somehow take offense to it. I don’t know why I care so much.

The biggest life lesson I’ve learned is that I need to constantly be taking personal risks, which means to be leaving my comfort zone. That is a scary thing because I like my shell and what I know, leaving that shell would be really hard for me to do. Essentially, I think it of as walking into something blind and possibly failing at it, I don’t like the feeling of failure.

However, when I did leave my comfort zone it lead to the greatest and happiest times of my life. I consistently tried to leave my comfort zone towards the end of my freshman year, and I am so much happier as a result. I have stories of why and how, but ultimately it boils to taking and owning that risk. Trust me, you’ll be way happier.

On top of the lessons I’ve learned, being happy came from all of the amazing friends I have gained this semester and year. I have friends who lift me up and make me feel important, and I have friends that care. It took a long time to get them, but now that I have them they are so worth it.

My friends are also like the coolest people in the world. Like if you’re a friend of mine and you’re reading this, I love you. You’ve been a positive and amazing impact on my life, and I genuinely hope you know that you’re a great person on the inside and out.

All of this I have learned and experienced in my freshman year. My lows have taught me the lessons, and my highs have been the best points in my life so far. I am eager to start my sophomore year because I am excited to continue growing and becoming an adult.

As for my plans until sophomore year, I am working at a great day camp with a great mission. I don’t know what else I can reveal, but it has an amazing mission and I can start to change the world through this. I am really excited for that.