Dear freshman year self,

Hey girl, it's you a year in the future and I'm here to offer you some pretty good news. Despite what your overreacting emotional mind thought, you made it to your sophomore year of college. Congrats! *high-five*. Not much has changed, yet everything has, if that makes sense. You've learned your lessons, you've matured, and in one simple year, you've become a better person. Most importantly, you survived one of the hardest transitions that life can bring, and are now on to a much better college experience. But you may be wondering, what specifically changed in my life? What improved that made sophomore year insurmountably better than my freshman year?

The curve balls (for the most part) are over with. Nothing is new anymore, and now you are prepared for the slightest or most dramatic of changes. I realize that being in new situations stresses you out, so that chapter in your life can finally end for the most part. If you do have to engage in new experiences, you can now handle them with grace and experience, instead of terror. That's partially why you went to college in the first place, past self, to put yourself out there, and man did it pay off.

Your friendships with other people only continue to grow and develop. Freshman year you get to meet people that have the potential to become best friends, but it's not until your sophomore year that they actually reach that level. You're finally comfortable and can feel like you're allowed to completely be yourself. Friendships are important in making your college experience the best it can possibly be, and you found that. They will become so important that you can't imagine college without them. So look forward to the incredible friendships that will come your way.

Another great part of sophomore, is getting to be more in-depth in your major. Sometimes your freshman year, while taking general education courses, it feels like you're not getting anywhere. You're sophomore year will finally give you classes that give you a glimpse as to your what your future will be like. You're finally done with silly biology courses that mean absolutely nothing to your future career. You can start envisioning whether your major is what you want to do with your life and take the necessary steps toward the future.

All in all, sophomore year is an incredible year and it will fully surpass your freshman year. Your first year in college can be exciting and thrilling, but it can also be stressful. Luckily for you, you survived the stress and get to move on to much better things. So enjoy your sophomore year, because it's going be great.

Sincerely,

Future self