Last year, when I went away to college for the first time, I knew absolutely no one.

I didn’t have a roommate for the first month, which resulted in a lot of Nutella eating alone in my room and my classes were a punch in the face that took a long recovery time.

I was terrified, so terrified I didn’t even use meal swipes for weeks because I was too afraid to go down to the dining hall and even get a to-go box.

Everyone I ever knew lived in my town, which created an instant connection. Everyone at my new university came from all around the world and seemingly already had a bunch of friends to connect with when I didn’t.

However, throughout this struggle in my first couple of months of college I learned to appreciate the little things, once I made friends and met some of the greatest minds/people I have ever encountered.

I love how that moment of banging on someone’s door asking them to go eat lunch is totally acceptable in a dorm room or how finding a person passed out on your floor isn’t the weirdest thing you’ve seen all week. (I've even seen someone make out with a person who just threw up, and it wasn't that weird either.)

I love that people you once never knew in places you never heard of can become people you love. Professors making silly puns about lessons also makes my nerdy heart chuckle, or at least exhale out of my nose a little.

Professors I used to be scared of became people that I noticed would root for me to succeed and looked forward to conversations about anything. Friends that help you deal with dumb problems, and the feeling of succeeding after a lot of work (more work than was ever put in in high school).

Overall, there are way too many things to ever put into words as to why I love university, and although it is far, I can’t imagine it any other way. So as I start my sophomore year at college I am so excited to see what’s ahead, plus having friends for the first month of college is going to be pretty cool.