After completing my first year at college, I took one month to reflect on all of my experiences. Many wonderful things happened this year such as making Dean's List, being named "funniest" on my floor, and overall having a very successful year socially. On the other hand, I experienced things that I never thought I would have to such as having a mentally unstable neighbor who threatened me. I had to take my friends to the hospital because they had severe alcohol poisoning. Lastly, heaven gained a friend of mine to mental illness suppressed by addiction.

I believe that everyone experiences a few turning points throughout their lifetime. At the young age of 18, I have reached my first turning point in my life. After unexpectedly losing my friend Sam at 19 years old, I thought to myself the things I would have said to him the last time I saw him. This experience of losing a friend so suddenly has made me realize how short life is. When I started to think about how quickly the time seemed to be going, I started to overthink everything from my major in college too if my dog has bladder cancer because she was peeing a lot (turns out she ate A LOT of ice). After a few days of being fearful, I told myself this isn't a way to live a full life. I began to make some lifestyle changes that I needed to do for my own health and wellness. I started going to the gym more often, eating a more balanced diet, performing random acts of kindness to strangers, doing housework without mom asking me (yes that was huge), and trying to really decide what impact I want to have after college. After being mindful for a couple of weeks, I realized that my world around me was slowly changing. The people that I am deserving of, started to come back into my life, I started feeling healthier about my body, and my self-confidence increased. This article isn't supposed to portray that being the best version of yourself is going to be easy every single day, but until you focus on self-love it is hard to contribute to someone else's life.

Life is too short for negative and toxic people to be in your life, so once you identify those types of people get rid of them because they don't deserve a spot in your life. Once you weed out those people, you will start to attract people that bring positivity and substance to your life.

Life is too short to worry about every little thing because if you worry so much, you will miss out on the big things that you won't want to miss.

Life is too short to judge a book by its cover. Everyone has their own struggles and journey so never be mean to someone when you don't know their story. This world needs more understanding and sympathetic people, there are too many mean people out there.

Life is too short to be mad at someone forever. Forgiveness to those that have hurt you is a powerful way to let yourself free.

My mom always taught me that people come into our life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I wish my friend Sam came into my life for a lifetime. Instead, I know he came in for a reason that has changed my life. His passing made me realize that as individuals we need to try and be the best versions of ourselves every single day. Not only am I trying to live by this, but I am thinking about the bigger picture. I have always had a passion for helping people, but never really knew how to translate that into a career. I always doubted my ability to pursue medical school, but now I am seriously considering putting my plan of becoming a broadcast journalist aside to pursue my passion for people.

I leave you with this quote, that inspired me and I hope inspires you.

"If you can't figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. Your passion will lead you right into your purpose" - T.D. Jakes