Dear Freshman Year,

The time has come to part our separate ways and to move on from one another. Truthfully, I don’t really know where to begin on this goodbye. I could start out with all the “thank you’s” that I owe you or I could start by writing about all the mental breakdowns you had played a part in. I could talk about all the memories that were made within my dorm, and I could talk about all the things that have changed in my life since we met.

Thank you to all the friends I have made

It has been one heck of a year. Coming into a college and literally knowing no one is scary. The nervousness for moving two hours away from home had never been so real. If we’re going to be totally honest, I never thought that I would have the friends that I do. I never thought that my entire floor in my dorm building would be as close as we are. During the first couple weeks of school I made sure my door was always opened, that I introduced myself to as many people as possible. And now here we are, ending our freshman year and it’s safe to say that the friends I have made here these past few months are going to be some of the people that will be around for life. Not only have you all made an incredible impact in my life but you have also pushed me when I have never felt weaker. And even though our freshman year is coming to an end, I can’t wait to see where the next few years take us.

Thank you to my family

I don’t think I can describe how many times I wanted to quit and sit in a corner in cry this year. There have been nights where crying was just a necessity and there have been nights where a box of pizza cured everything. But I would not have gotten through every thing this year without the love and support of my family. Every day I would call my mom and she would sit there and listen to all my rants and all my issues that I have faced this year. My entire family (including extended) have pushed me and I couldn’t be more grateful. One year down, three more to go.

Thank you to the opportunities

The funny thing is, I have known what I want to do career path-wise since the fourth grade. I knew I wanted to write, I just didn’t know what kind of writing. It wasn’t until my freshman year of high school that I decided that journalism was the career path for me. Within my first year of being at this University I have been writing for Odyssey and I even got an editor position for my campus’s school newspaper. I have accomplished so much in just my freshman year and I can’t wait to see where the next few years go.

Thank you for the hard nights

College is a lot harder than people lead on. There is so much hard work and dedication put into your time on a campus and college is what you make it. This is the time where we have to think about our future and what we want to do with our lives. It’s kind of scary. Our times of being young are coming to an end and as each year passes we are one step closer to being adults and living on our own. There have been so many nights where the world felt like it was ending and that dropping out of college and working a crappy job but I pushed through. And even though those hard nights SUCKED, I can only grow from them.

Thank you for the memories

Like I said, college is what you make it. The people here are the friends that you will have for life, the clubs you joined are worth it, this is the time of your life. I’ve only done one year of college and I don’t want my senior year to come. So many memories have been made and I can’t wait to share all of them. Being here has truly been a blessing and I am so ready to see what the next few years bring for me.

So this is it freshman year. We are done and we have had such a long journey together. I said all that I needed to say. There were some ups and downs but we’re done! You’re officially in the past and your friend, Sophomore year is in the future. Thanks for everything (even all the bad), I learned a lot but it’s time to move on and learn more things that you just can’t provide for me. So goodbye freshman year, it was fun while it lasted.