First semester of sophomore year was definitely interesting.

There were many ups and downs. Many adult life moments.

Let's start with the good.

I got to cover my favorite sport for a student organization I am proud to be a part of and even got to conduct my first interview in Spanish! It might not seem like a big deal for many of you, but it was the first step for me towards achieving my dream of professionally covering the sport in a Spanish-speaking country in the future.

Not only did I stay busy covering a collegiate sport, but I also got three jobs. So, I had never worked a day before in my life, not because I didn't want to, but because my parents didn't allow me to. They have always wanted me to focus on my studies and now thanks to on-campus jobs, I get to focus on my academics and earn some money.

Now, this is more on a personal matter, I got to meet my favorite hockey player! THAT is probably my favorite thing because I got to see the kind of sweetheart he is with his fans and family, which probably just makes him even more of my favorite. If you guys want to read more about me meeting him, I did write an article about it.

Another personal achievement was the control I had over my anxiety. Last school year was such a tough year for me, and my anxiety was constantly deuterating my mental health. However, I made sure to care more for myself, which helped control my anxiety. I'm not saying that it went completely away and that I got rid of it, but I got a better grip at it.

Oof, here comes the bad and the ugly.

The most obvious one was of only seeing my family twice this semester and only going back home once. I'm extremely family oriented, so being away from my family was especially tough. It gets worse when things aren't so great at home either. I won't get into it, but it was definitely a tough change from being able to see my family at least once a month last school year.

I learned the importance of time management. And I learned it the hard way. I sign up and say "yes" to basically anything and everything if it means getting involved or having fun. However, it's hard to do that while balancing three jobs and like 20 credits. I have always been bad at time management, but it never got to be this bad.

The real ugly would probably be how hard the reality of adult life hit me. Having to pay bills, do your own maintenance, etc. All of the things I was used to having my parents do, I suddenly had to do and yes, it stressed me out beyond belief. I swear I lost count of the number of times I called my parents in tears.

However, this semester has definitely taught me a lot more than I expected.

It taught me about myself. About growing up. About happiness.

And while the bad and the ugly made me feel horrible, they helped toughen me up for the next semesters ahead. We only have two and a half years left of this.