Dear freshman me,

As my sophomore year comes to a close, I am literally astounded by how much has changed in just a year. As a freshman, there was so many things to see and to do, and it was all so overwhelming and exciting. What a good year freshman year was -- full of new friends, new experiences and, of course, lots of pizza breadsticks.

But sophomore year, now, this has been a year for the books. It's the year I truly found a home in IU and in a sisterhood, found out which friends I can call at 3 a.m., learned a lot about myself, and learned a lot about the world around me.

College is about discovering yourself. It's about learning you prefer wine to vodka, that there are far too many one ways in Bloomington, that afternoons well spent are ones laughing with your friends. It's the year you learn that, once you learn time management, your life gets infinitely easier and less stressful. It's the year you learn what makes you happy and how you want to live your life, not only now, but in the future.

So many things happened this year. We ate pizza on a sidewalk, we splashed around in the rain, we saw Zac Brown band in Indy for the Final Four, we found our favorite places to brunch, we got lost in a pumpkin patch, we made new friends, we romped around, we took on leadership roles, we laughed, we cried, we sang and we danced.

Maybe it's the year you fall in love with a major -- because that's what happened to me. Maybe it's the year you fall in love with another person, and find yourself with a goofy smile on your face 24/7 because of that. It's the year you leave behind being a teenager and suddenly find yourself as a 20-something living in her own apartment and trying to learn how to cook without burning anything.

It's a year of discovery, it's a year of laughter and joy, and it's only one year on your journey. If it's this good, now, I can't wait to see what junior year has in store.

Until then,

Sophomore me