Living on my own.

This year, I had to learn how to live more independently and with people that I have never lived with before. My parents taught me some skills such as how to do laundry and wash dishes, but they could never teach me how to live with three people who have three completely different lifestyles from my own. In high school, I lived with just my brothers for roughly thirteen years. I learned (and am definitely still working on) how to adjust to living with new people. Luckily, we all got along and are great friends!

Being a better communicator.

When I was an awkward and insecure teen, I wasn’t so great at confrontation and dealing with problems. To be honest, it is still scary to me. But a big step forward on the path to maturity is learning how to effectively tell people how you feel. I’ve had to talk out my concerns with others about everything from my social life to residence life. Academically, my Public Speaking and English classes have also taught me how to get my point across in writing. All of these aspects of communication put together help me create more compelling arguments to resolve the situations at hand.

Creating and maintaining valuable friendships.

The thought of being a freshman is seriously TERRIFYING, especially if you think that you will never end up making friends with your fellow peers. However, it’s easy to get close to people when you consistently see them in the dorms, in class, or at club meetings. Because of that, you will always have friends with you to study, eat dinner, and talk about anything. It’s very likely that after getting to know each other to that extent, your friendships will last well beyond graduation. High school isn’t usually like this, because you don’t typically spend every waking moment surrounded by your classmates.

Time management and study skills.

I feel like I should have had a table at the library engraved with my name because I went there so frequently. In high school, my time management skills sucked majorly, but I did retain some good study skills. At college, I finally figured out what the elusive phrase “time management” meant, and I have learned a few new study skills as well. Those will come in handy, since my workload will increase as I progress through college.

Having way, WAY more fun.

In high school, I was a stick in the mud sometimes. I felt obligated to abide by rules that my parents never made, and I hated spontaneity. At college, I “chilled out”, making me less anxious to do things like take city trips and stay out until 3 am talking with my friends. High school me wishes I could have done stuff like that back when it was okay to be a “dumb, reckless teen”. But at least I am able to be a “dumb, reckless college student” every once in a while.

Originality and authenticity.

I have always known that it is important to be your own person. Unfortunately, peer pressure makes people do things that they might not want to do, but is simply “expected” of them. In college, no one knows who you were in high school. I am not saying that this is the time to “completely reinvent yourself”. That is not possible to do over the course of one summer. However, this opportunity is able to be who you know is the true you. Show off your hilarious jokes or reveal your hidden talent that you were too afraid to reveal before. It is perfectly okay to be yourself because there will always be people who will accept you for who you truly are, and not what they want you to be.