College is such an interesting time in a person's life. From the ages of 18 to 22, you're shipped off to a place with tons of new people to meet. An unbelievable amount of opportunities are presented to you, and you have the ability to dive into a field that you're interested in. In addition to letting you grow professionally, you also learn a lot about living on your own and how to survive in a completely different environment. Every year of university can affect you so much, and one year that really stood out for me was my freshman year of college.

Going to college for the first time was quite a big step forward for me. From dealing with massive workloads to challenging classes, I was changed in numerous ways. Not only was I told that my education was going to be a wild and occasionally stressful ride, but it also showed me that I had to take my classes far more seriously this time. I had to manage my time so that I could get good grades and progress in my major, and I had to consider how my studies would affect me in the real world. Being around so many people that I never met before was also a change for me, as it showed me that the world was much bigger than I imagined it to be. I was essentially a fish that was sprouted up from its homeland, as I learned how to navigate college in just one year.

However, freshman year also brought a lot of confusion for me. Being eighteen to nineteen years old during my first year of college, I was bound to be lost along the way. Aspects such as interacting with people and talking to authority figures were perplexing at times, and I wondered if I was ever going to make it through college. I was clueless about certain parts of college, and I didn't know who I was back then. My friend group changed over time as well, as I found myself drifting away from people that I initially considered to be my best friends. College was totally different from what I had encountered before, and I felt like a kid that didn't know what I was doing.

I learned so much from that period of my life, though. It proved to me that I could handle independence and the responsibilities that came with it. From deciding when to be with my friends to scheduling appointments for career purposes, college taught me a lot about living away from home and how to carve my own personal path for success. I grew so much from my first year at college, and it gave me important lessons that I will carry with me into the future. I didn't always have a great time, but it was a pivotal year for me.

Overall, freshman year of college can be one of the most difficult times in a person's life. It can create significant progress by introducing you to a bevy of new information, as well as encouraging you to take your future seriously. Freshman year was also a strange experience, as it brought along lots of questions about how to handle college. That time of my life taught me so much about myself, and it demonstrated that I was capable of more than I thought that I was. Freshman year was truly an experience, and it's something that will always stay with me.