I realized this past week that I have been studying abroad for around a month and a half -- meaning that I only have another month and a half or so before heading home to the U.S. It's gotten me to think about my original goals and "to do" lists that I created before hopping on the plane to come over to England. I've been comparing where I wanted to be originally with where I am now and evaluating what my experience has been thus far. In this, I realized that not only am I halfway done with my experience of studying abroad, but I am also halfway through my entire undergraduate career.

I've quickly learned that American students get a bit of cushion with the amount of time we have in our undergraduate lives. In England, students are only in university for three years before moving onto either a Masters/PhD program or into the real world. Sitting here, now, trying to imagine myself going into the "real world" after the end of this school year scares the crap out of me. Mainly that's because I don't have a plan yet for my post-graduate life but it also scares me because I'm not sure who I am yet.

The four years that a student spends in college are supposed to prepare them for life in the working world, where you strive to rise up the ladder in your career, get married, start a family, and hopefully make enough money to live comfortably. While you are beginning to prepare yourself to lead a working life, college doesn't necessarily teach you WHO you are. There are no courses focusing around personalities, priorities or how to grow in maturity. We, as college students, have to find our potential in the big, scary, real world while we also have to define who we are as individuals.

This is where I find that college students don't get enough credit. We go each day dealing with the common issues and achievements that school provides, but we are also growing on the inside. We are formulating not only our future paths, but our future identities. Becoming independent and learning to live on our own helps us to learn who we truly are, without the security blanket of mom, dad, and our immediate family. We learn what our reactions are to current events, we formulate our opinions on various social topics, we listen (hopefully) to the others in our classes and the views they themselves carry. And all the while, we are unknowingly changing the views we have of ourselves.

Knowing that soon enough I will be a senior in college and will be working toward a life after university has me reflecting on who I was when I was a freshman to the woman I have become now, as a junior. I ask that any college student reading this takes a few minutes to think about how your college or university experience has shaped you, and how you have grown. It may surprise you to realize who you are now versus who you were then. Maybe this is a concept you haven't even thought of, with the hustle and bustle of daily life getting in the way. But for now, think about it. Think about YOU. What do YOU want from life? How are your classes helping you to grow and challenge your once formed ideals? How are the friends you have aiding your self identification process? How are you growing through the multitude of changes and experiences you are facing?

Take time to reflect, for it will surely help you to continue growing and to continue flourishing.