Freshman year has come and gone, and I'm honestly so shocked. They say that college goes by so fast, and I didn't believe it was possible until it actually happened to me. The last nine months have been quite an interesting and wild ride. I never expected to be writing a school year closing article so quickly, and it's crazy for me to think that I made it through my freshman year of college. In an instant, I am suddenly a rising sophomore and no longer the "babies" of the college realm. It's wild to think that a year ago I was just committing to a school and now I've already tackled a year of it.

This year of college has definitely taught me a lot more about independence and relying on myself to get anything done. I no longer had someone else looking over my schedule or reminding me of things to do. I didn't have professors constantly reminding when things were due or about different assignments like my teachers in high school did. I didn't have someone cooking my meals or doing my laundry. I've had to learn more about being separated from my family on a daily basis and having to handle things more on my own.

I also had to learn a lot more about myself and how I act and interact around other people. I have had the same group of friends for most of my life, so I didn't realize until I came here that I actually wasn't that great at making friends. I didn't realize that I was more reserved around people I don't know too well until I was surrounded by people I didn't know at all. One thing that did help with the friendship thing was joining a sorority, which definitely gave me more opportunities to meet new people and create more bonds.

Overall, the first year of college has been such a learning experience and a great chance for me to understand more about myself. I like to think that I have changed a lot and not a lot at the same time, which I think is a great attitude for moving forward with the rest of my life, because it allows room for growth but still keeping to myself. I can't wait to go into sophomore year feeling more confident and prepared (and still possibly a little scared because it is still college and lots of new things) going into it.