It feels like it was just yesterday I was packing my bags up to move away from home for nine months. While the first couple weeks were incredibly difficult to grasp the idea of being away from home and family. I got through it just as you all probably did. The constant text messages to mom telling her how much you just want to come home was an actual thing but you knew deep down that being here at college is where you needed to be. Now here we are packing up our small dorm rooms to move back home for the summer. Even though this summer might consist of working excessive amounts of hours or not have any plans at all it still makes you excited to be home for the next four month. Although, as we pack up our bags we reflect on our first year of college.

Throughout high school, we are being prepared for the next 4 years of our lives in college but the truth is you can never be well prepared for college. There was never a point in high school where I was swamped with homework but in college, this changes. The homework pile never dies down, all nine months are filled with homework. Even during finals week, there is homework to turn in. I am sure us college kids will not miss this at all but we will miss the friends we made throughout the last nine months and the good times we all shared.

Making friends is never easy and maybe you had a friend all year you could not wait to get rid of once you leave for the summer. Maybe your roommate was the best friend you made all year. With college, you never know what it will bring you. Either way, you are grateful for the memories you have shared with each friend you made and you know you will miss this just as much as they will.

The fond memories we shared as a campus for freshman year will always be carried with us. Moving into a dorm and being independent was a big change. If you came to college to party, congratulations you accomplished something. If you came to college for an education and to make something of yourself, congratulations you did it. You started the long, stressful, and exciting journey. It is not easy and you really have to be willing to go to college because there is no slacking off and making it by like back in high school. This defines your future and this experience is something we will carry with ourselves the rest of our lives. So you should be proud of yourself for finishing your first year of college, I know I am proud of myself! It is not easy but we survived one year our of 4 years so far! For now, I am ready to go home and spend four months not having to worry about anything but work and what I will do tomorrow to keep myself busy. I am ready to be home, back with the family every day and not just weekends and a couple weeks over winter or spring break. I am ready for the endless amounts of concerts and trips I will take. So if you are ready, it is time to kiss freshman year goodbye because there is no looking back.