If you walked up to me in July of 2012 and told me that in exactly four years I would have a bachelor's degree in psychology, be a confirmed Catholic, and would soon be watching my mother wear a white dress and walk down the aisle to her future husband, I likely would have laughed in your face and turned the other direction.

After my high school graduation, I had a solid plan for the rest of my life. I was supposed to go through the Air Force ROTC program, which would then lead me into a career flying high in the sky as a bomber pilot. I was going to get my college degree in mechanical engineering and, after a life full of success in the Air Force, I would have a master's or even a doctorate in aerospace engineering, which would then lead to a second career working for Lockheed Martin. Somewhere in the mix, I would have a family made up of two children and a loving husband (maybe throw a dog in too).

But the problem is, God didn't really care about my plan.

You see, His plan is much bigger than the one I could make for myself. After nearly four years of consistent change, I am realizing that I don't really get to decide where life takes me.

For as long as I can remember, my favorite Bible verse has been Jeremiah 29:11, which says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper and not harm you; plans for a hope and future." After nearly three years of having the reference tattooed on my arm, I still consistently forget how important these words are. God has a plan for my life, a plan that is much much bigger than anything I could attempt to plan for myself.

Being in college has shown me that His plan is pretty crazy.

I have learned to love others more than I ever imagined I had the ability to.

Love is such a strong word. It's a word that gets overlooked and under-appreciated. It's also a word that should be said and shown every second of every day. Christ did not lay down His life for us to keep that love to ourselves. We should live day to day with that love on display. Be it through acceptance, understanding or the use of a skill (like baking cookies), that love should be shared.

I have learned to love myself (not something I'm the best at, but I'm still working on it).

My self-image has not always been that great. I have made many mistakes through my life and I continue to make mistakes on a daily basis. For so many years, I allowed those mistakes to control me. But through consistent conversation with others, prayer and a whole lot of writing, I have started seeing the good in me.

I have learned that God's church is bigger than I ever could have dreamed.

The Hindus have a saying that "there are many paths to the same summit." This line speaks volumes to me. I'm no theologian, nor do I claim to be, but I do believe that there is more than one way to gain entrance into the Kingdom of God. It has taken me almost two years to stand up and answer God's call to join the Catholic church (and an article explaining this journey will be coming soon).

I have learned that my major does not define me (or my future).

After switching majors three times as a freshman, I realized it does not make a difference in who I am as a person. Throughout college, there has always been the issue of what your major is. My school is primarily composed of technical majors (most of whom are engineers) and they tend to dominate when it comes to topics of discussion. However, college is about so much more than what your major is. Just because I am a psychology student does not mean that I am a mind-reader or that I have no plans for my future. Every major has some sort of negative stigma, but that does not mean you have to embrace the stereotypes.

I have learned that family has more than one definition.

Being a child of divorced parents, I have always had a different definition for "family." However, coming to college has shown me just how different that definition can be. I have realized that family comes through the people who surround and love you daily. I have a church family and different class families. I have been granted the love of two huge families which are continuously growing. As this school year is beginning to close, I realize some of these families might begin to change, but that doesn't mean I won't be loved or see different families sprout and grow. Soon enough, I expect I will be starting my own family (and that's a concept I'm not quite ready to grasp).

Through friends, family, life, love and Christ, college has changed me in more ways than I ever thought it would. I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything in the world.