To my sophomore year,

I do not want to ask anything of you, I will not make requests or offer prayers but instead I have some hopes for what this year will allow me to be as a person. My freshman year led me down a path of self-discovery. The year and all of its changes encouraged me to ask important questions of myself: of my values, of my dreams, and of my goals. Many see freshman year of college as a period of time to reinvent oneself — choosing a new group of friends, diving into a new passion or interest, or developing new habits. This time of reinvention provides numerous choices to be made. The good news is, most of these difficult decisions have now been made and it is now time to continue to thrive off of the choices that we made in the previous year, continue to grow close with our new friends, continue to enhance our expertise in our areas of interest, and continue to flourish in our new environment. However, as always, there is room for improvement and that is what I hope for this year.

Help me to be more kind. Help me to reach a wider audience. I hope to greet new faces, introduce myself to many, all while maintaining a kind and welcoming demeanor. I hope to support my new friends in their interests, at sporting events, at orchestra performances, or offering to help with a difficult class. I learned a lot about being positive internally and the difference that having a positive attitude changed in my daily life and I am now hopeful that I can make my positive attitude an external part of my day, sharing it with others. I also hope that the people that I encounter will see me as a kindhearted and positive person, someone who is always willing to help.

Help me to be more confident. Help me to know that the decisions I have made for myself are the correct ones. I ask that you help me to not be distracted by social media and by the lives of others and to remain true to myself and the wants I have for myself as a student and as a person. I am thankful for the opportunities that I have been given throughout my college experience thus far and I wish for the confidence in my ability to complete the tasks and jobs I have been given on campus in the best way possible.

Help me to stay focused on the important things. Help me to place a spotlight upon my success in my classes, upon the positive relationships in my life, and upon my own personal happiness. I took the time last year, to discover these aspects of my life as the most significant to me, and further took the time to define what success meant to me, what I hoped for from my relationships and what I hoped to contribute, and also how I could strengthen my own ability to be happy. It is crucial to define these important aspects and the ways in which to appreciate each of them the most. I hope that this year will deliver me more of an ability to remain focused on these aspects and their importance.

Freshman year was not easy, but more importantly I learned and discovered things about myself I had never seen or recognized before and quite honestly, the difficulties and adversity changed the way I now live. Now that we have all moved on from reinvention and into the stage of continuation, it is time to solidify the role that we hope to play in our college community. I hope that you, sophomore year, can inspire us all to, join new clubs, become a student leader, apply for an on campus job or research position, audition for a play or the dance team, and then we will all be able to truly define ourselves with your help.