Do you ever find yourself thinking about what your life looked like this very moment, but a few years ago? Whether your memory is jogged through a silly Facebook memory reminder, or perhaps nostalgia, it is always strange to consider what your life looked like a few years back. With my college graduation right around the corner, I’ve found myself often considering of my last few years. Sometimes I’m able to see how far I’ve come, and sometimes I find myself missing things of the past. I think the part that I like most about these comparisons is to see how much things have changed, and how I am still doing just fine.

Change always seems like the most frightening thing in the world, but we manage to make it through periods of change all the time. My life has changed so much over the last few years, but as I sit here writing this, it all seems natural now. This time two years ago I was just about the start my second semester of college and to be honest, I was dreading it. My first semester was okay, but something about it just didn’t feel right. After that first semester, winter break allowed me to adjust to the comforts of home again and going back to school seemed impossible. But I did it, and it turned out to be a great semester. It was incredibly difficult to go back for those first few weeks, but I made it through and everything eventually improved. Life didn't stay hard, and it got easier-and more enjoyable- to be at school.

Not only do I often compare to my freshman year, but I also find myself considering where I was this time last year, which was my second year of college. Once again, a year ago I would have been coming back from winter break. In complete contrast to my freshman year, I was looking forward to it. I was living with cool roommates, set up for a semester of interesting classes, and didn’t have many responsibilities to worry about. Last year was a lot easier than this year has been, and I felt as if it was a period of calmness. Although starting my sophomore year warranted a lot of change with situations like random roommates and a lack of comfort, that all soon became my life, and it became comfortable.

Now here I am, beginning my first week of my last semester of college. I am once again living with random roommates in a new house, about to start a rigorous semester of school, and balancing a stressful job as well. Life now is much different than it was last year, or even two years ago. I would say this year has been more demanding than the last two, but I think that is part of life; it all comes in waves. I had some great semesters in the past, and the pace of living was a bit slower. I had to hustle a bit more to keep up last semester, but I managed to do so. The point that I am getting at, though, is that life comes in waves. There are so many ups and downs and periods of calm and craziness, and I figure that isn’t going to change as I get older. It's relieving though, because even in a crazy period like now, I know there will be a bit of calm in the future.

Despite what the stage of life may have been, they have all let me grow in very different ways. It’s like each year had a different lesson that it wanted me to learn, and it would be damned if I didn’t learn it. Some of these periods have been a lot easier than others, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. More than anything, considering all of these previous stages of my life makes me wonder where I will be a year from now. That’s a big mystery right now, but no matter what happens, I’m sure one day I will also be looking back at this stage of life to come.