I remember move-in day like it was yesterday.

I packed up my whole car days before I even had to move in and basically counted down the minutes until I got to leave home once again and return to my favorite place to see my favorite people.

The morning finally came. I woke up earlier than I had the whole summer and drove the long two hours and some odd minutes to Amherst with my succulent plant in my hand the whole drive because I was afraid the plant would fall in the car if I didn't hold it. And so it began.

I rolled up to Butterfield Hall and a rush of excitement poured over me. I was finally reunited with my roommate and got to meet all my new and amazing floor mates. I got to my room and immediately started unpacking, excited to start my new year.

My sophomore year has changed me in ways I never expected it would. I have grown immensely over the course of this academic year. I have taken classes I loved, hated, and learned a whole lot during every single class. With everything I’ve learned inside the classroom, I’ve learned ten times that amount outside the classroom as well. I’ve learned a lot about who I am and those around me.

Sophomore year has given me the best gift I will ever receive, friendship. I have gained so many new beautiful and flourishing friendships and even those friendships I already had have been strengthened immensely. Even by joining Odyssey, I joined a brand new community and made a bunch of new friends.

The fall seems like ages ago, but back in the fall I rushed APO, a co-ed community service fraternity, and that has made the largest impact on my college experience up to date. Through this fraternity, I have made so many new friends and this community has helped me grow in my leadership ability and my love of community service as well. When I was rushing in the fall, I never could imagine how much all my brothers and the whole of the fraternity would mean to me, and yet here I am.

This year was a real roller coaster. When I got back from spring break I felt the most alone I had ever felt in my whole life. I didn't want to be at school I wanted to be home with my friends, but then the next day I woke up to the sun shining and I laughed with my friends. I got A’s on papers I expected C’s on.

Everything seemed to work itself out. Times really did get rough this year, but I have really cool friends who helped me through it. Things got bad, but there were days with kan jam and corn hole and wandering the streets of UMass with the worst ratio in history trying to get into any and every frat.

I think my friends and I personally funded the local Dunkin Donuts to stay in business by the amount of Saturday mornings spent there. There were good brunches and bad jokes and that's how you see what college is all about. There were bad times where I didn't think I would make it out of this year, but for every bad day, there were a million good ones to make it all worth it.

So here I am, it is the end of my sophomore year and I am wondering how I am supposed to say goodbye. Looking back at September, I barely recognize the girl I was back then. I’m trying to pinpoint when it all happened when I grew into the girl I have become when I learned about all the things that I have, but I cant. I don't think I ever will. This year took everything I thought I knew about college and changed my perspective completely.

Goodbye to sophomore year, a year full of challenges and changes. I wouldn’t change a thing.