Going into college, it’s easy to think you’ve got everything figured out. You’ve picked the college you thought would best fit you and are pursuing the major that you are most interested in. You’ve got plans and you’re on your way to pursuing them. At least for me that’s how the story began. Having all these plans almost gave me a sense of security that everything would fall into place and the whole college experience would be everything and more than I expected. But If there is anything I’ve learned these past couple years, is that things change. People change, Ideas Change, Places change, Interests change. And that’s something I didn’t have in my grand plan.
With countdowns on my phone for birthdays, trips and special occasions I always was ready for the next milestone in my life. So going from being the girl who always seemed to have a backup plan for her plan, this new concept wasn’t really ideal and didn’t come without some resistance. It was hard to let go of the security that came with having so much “planned.” But by embracing this change, it has really given me a new sense of freedom and opened my eyes to all the opportunities I have in front of me. Freedom to change my surroundings, change my major, and anything that I need to in order to be happy in the now. It has also lifted all the pressure that I needed to have everything figured out RIGHT NOW. If everything was already figured out and perfect life wouldn’t be any fun. It really is those times where we are struggling and discovering that our real life is happening.
But that’s the beauty of college, there are plenty of opportunities to challenge you personally, socially and most notably academically. In just the two years I’ve been here, I’ve been able to weed out subjects that I know will never be apart of my future while also discovering paths that I might have never considered. I never planned on getting a zero on one of my major sciences projects freshman year, but hey now I know the importance of reading the instructions. I most definitely didn’t believe or plan for the Freshman Fifteen, but lemme tell you right now it is very real especially when most of the dorm food consists of nothing but carb loaded meals. I also never planned to live in a sorority house with over fifty other women. It can be an overwhelming amount of hairspray and girl talk but I really wouldn’t have it any other way.
College really is more than just the classes you take and the grades you receive. It’s about the experiences both good and bad, the people we meet along the way, added in with the academics that shape us into the person we were always meant to be. While I may not have my future or even this weekend planned out, I’m just focusing on my day to day experiences and seeing where it takes me.
