College has taught me a lot so far. I learned that in ancient times, the Egyptians buried everything they need in the real world with them for the afterlife. I learned how to create a Euler Circuit to deliver mail in the most efficient way. I learned about the different fields of psychology. But most importantly, I learned that life isn't going to go as you planned, and the only thing you can do about it is ride with the wave.

I've always been one to have my future planned out. I have high expectations, which sometimes can be a good thing. But when you place those expectations and organized plans in an environment that you haven't been in before, you can't be left in shock when you look back at everything that's happened.

To be honest with you, this is not how I thought college was going to be for me. I thought that I would stay at school every weekend, have a ton of friends, and be thriving on my own. It's almost as I got the complete opposite of what I had wished for.

I've been drowning in school work. I go home almost every weekend to see my family and have a home-cooked meal. I have made close friends and drifted apart from them in the same year. I am definitely not, in any way, thriving. But, I would not change this first year for the world.

I learned how to be an adult. I hate the term "adulting", but I never realized how when I thought I was grown up, I really wasn't. I learned how to manage my time. I learned that I can be friends with people and not spend every waking minute with them, and love them just the same. I learned that it's okay to miss your parents and going home to visit them can be good for the soul.

My freshman year of college wasn't the glorious movie scene that you would picture from a Hollywood film. It was real, it was hard, but it was worth it. I grew as a person, mentally and academically; and that's the what college is all about.