Now that I am in my third year of college, I see all of the sights and sounds of college a little bit differently. This new perspective of being an upperclassman, especially in an all-male dorm, gives me a little bit more insight into how college is supposed to work. The first two years in college were basically a test run. It let me figure out and decide if I was really cut out to do this whole post-secondary education thing. The classes and homework were just a little sample of what is to come in the rest of my next two years.

I have also grown a great deal during my college tenure, having to deal with many stressful situations, whether it be emotional or school-related. There have been many challenges that I have faced along the way and I feel that I have overcome everything that life has thrown at me. During the first few months of school, my dog passed away while I was out and about in Portland. I've had to deal with self-doubt about whether or not I'm on the right career path without my parents or my best friends. There have been some relationships and friendships that have come and gone during my time at school that have also added to the stress, which is sad because I have a personality where I like to meet people and make lots of friends.

Now that I'm back at school, I find myself in a position of responsibility and the guys in my dorm that are underclassman are starting to look to me as a role model, which I haven't been aware of since my senior year of high school. Being in a position of leadership is one of the biggest things that I will have to manage because I can't be doing freshmen things. I will have to balance fun and work more than I ever have before, making sure that everything I do is quality and I have truly fulfilled all of the requirements of all the assignments that I will have to complete.

Thankfully, I have been fortunate enough to meet so many awesome people. Some of these people are the people that live in my dorm with me, while others are just people I've met in class or in theater productions. These people fill in the gaps that are left by all of the people that I'm leaving at home when I go to school. I don't think that I could have chosen to be a part of a better community than the one here at the University of Portland. Yes, everyday there is somebody back at home that I miss, but there are people here that I miss when I go home. There are some days where I feel that I live a different life in Portland than I do at home.