My first summer home from college was a weird one. At least, it was something I didn't expect. I thought I would come home from school, jump right back into the life I'd left behind, and would spend the break making money and good memories. I'd finally get everything done in my life that I needed to get done and it'd be a fun, productive summer. Much to my dismay, things did not work out that way whatsoever and the crazy summer I thought would be coming my way quickly faded into non-existence. So, like most things, I was incredibly wrong.

I ended up spending a lot of time by myself. The friend group I thought I had at home turned out to be smaller than what I expected, so those wild memories I thought I'd make were few and far between. I really only spent time with a handful of people and at first, it made me really sad. It hurts to lose people you thought would be by your side forever. It was a rough adjustment, to say the least.

But, to my surprise, being alone so much was actually for the best. It helped me realize who I really needed in my life and who I didn't. I learned that be alone is perfectly OK and I don't need to be with other people to feel good. I had spent so much time relying on validation from others to make me happy when in reality, the only person who could make me happy was myself. It took being stripped away from my awesome college friends who lived far away and losing my high school friends to finally understand this.

At the end of the day, I only will ever truly have myself. I am my own best friend, my own supporter, my own motivator. I am an awesome person (also very humble) and I should focus on bettering myself more than how other people can make me feel.

This summer taught me to be myself through being by myself, and I'm so incredibly glad to have made my way through it.