I am sitting here on my couch looking back on my first year of college. Thoughts roll through my mind as I think about the laughs, the tears, the arguments, the stresses, the triumphs, and above all the changes. At this very moment it is finals weeks and my first year of college is so close to being over I can almost grasp it in my hand. I look around my now bare walled dorm room and think this is my very last week that I will have to sleep in this really tiny bed. I smile but also grimace at what I went through this past year.
When I entered college, I was a completely different major than I am right now. I came in as a Public Health 3+3 Physical Therapy Student and man was I excited. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do, I wanted to work with kids as a physical therapist. I arrived here on campus and designed my room exactly how I wanted it and was ready to start my first day of classes. Everything was pretty smooth sailing until general chemistry happened. I now know that this is one of the weed out classes that first-year pre-physical therapy students have to take. Needless to say, I was quickly weeded out. I despised every single second that I spent in that chemistry class. I stressed so much over it and could not, no matter how hard I tried to get a good grade on exams. I spent a lot of my first semester stressed and annoyed with the thought that this is going to be the rest of my life, I hate science, how am I going to get through this? During my winter break, I had a sit down talk with my mom at the Cheesecake Factory (if you have never been there I highly suggest you check it out!) and I told her how I was feeling. She agreed and asked me what did I really want to do? I said this is going to sound crazy but I think I want to be a lawyer and be an English major. That very night, I contacted my mom's friend who is a lawyer and she gave me wonderful advice. During most of winter break, I spent lots of time researching law schools, emailing the pre-law coordinator at my school, and just being excited about my major again. I am now a Political Science and English dual major and I could not be happier.
Aside from the stress of not knowing where I belong educationally, I found where I belonged socially. I joined a sorority and absolutely fell in love with my chapter and all the women in it. I found my home away from home among fifty-three other women. As I'm looking back on that decision, despite the extra stress that being in a sorority brings; I am so glad that I decided to join. The thing is I almost did not. I had a roommate at the beginning of my first semester who really did not like Greek life. She made it seem like all the girls who were in sorority were the stereotypical barbie like girls and that frankly I would not fit in. I decided against her biased advice to at least see what being in a sorority was all about. I went to several meet and greets with the chapters on campus and decided hey, I am going to give it a shot and see what happens. I was chosen by Phi Sigma Sigma and I am so happy to this day that I ignored my roommate's advice. A little while after I joined my sorority that very same roommate and I had a falling out and she moved to a different room. Along with tons of sisters who have become some of my greatest friends, I have made friends with two wonderful roommates and will be extremely hard to say goodbye to them.
Throughout this first year here at college it has been interesting but ultimately each moment is filled with decisions. That is all that life is a constant string of decisions. The thing is each decision is going to change you, whether it is for the better or worst is completely up to you. I have made good and bad decisions and I definitely have a whole lot more decisions to make as I finish my college career and move on in life. I just hope that each decision leads me on the right path.
