Coming home for the summer from college has made me realize how much college can change people--for the good and the bad. I have never dealt well with change but I have come to learn that changing and maturing is a part of life. Adapting to living at home has definitely been difficult and reconnecting with my friends from home has been great, but I cannot help but notice that things are different which gave me an idea to discuss the topic of change and my journey to embracing it.

Through my first year of college, I have definitely learned more about myself than I ever thought I could. For example, I thought I was extroverted but came to learn I was more introverted than I thought. I had a lot of obstacles thrown at me that I had to overcome on my own; not to mention my boyfriend and I entered into a long distance relationship which was a challenge in itself. I had to adapt to living on my own in an unfamiliar environment and living an independent life; away from all of my friends and family. I was definitely in for a learning curve. I will not lie it took me a very long time to find my groove in college. I wanted to fight the change. I refused to embrace it, and it began to take a toll on me. I struggled a lot with anxiety and depression the beginning of my freshman year and sought out counseling to help. I wanted to keep my old life and especially my old friends. But then, all of a sudden, something happened. I found my groove and got my routine down (I am very, very routine oriented--which is another thing I learned through going to college) and things started to get better. I finally embraced that change is natural and decided to immerse myself into college life completely.

Then after finally adapting and changing to meet the needs of my life in college, I was hit with another change in my life. The school year closed out, and I was going to be headed home for the summer. In all honesty, I was dreading going home. I knew that many stressors for my anxiety would be triggered with packing up all of my things and leaving the place I had called home for 8 months. I had made new friends who I did not want to leave, but a part of me was very excited to see all of my old friends at home, drive my own car and of course no longer be long distance with my boyfriend.

This time around, though apprehensive, I embraced the change and knew that things would work out. I began to realize once hanging out with my old friends from home, that people change too. I saw my friends in a different light than I once did. Everyone had changed one way or the other mostly for the good. But I realized that that type of change is natural too. People mature, and that is normal with age. They are all adapting the same way I have to as well. I have embraced that there will be a kind of test run period as we have all never experienced this before.

My journey with embracing change has been difficult, but I find that acknowledging that change is natural will make the transition easier. Whether a change is a choice or situational, things will always change. and I have challenged myself to be more open-minded and less rigid in my routine and schedule. I have found that this has relieved a lot of my anxiety and stress, and it has put me at peace to know that things will work out in the end.