As the weather warms up and the sun starts making more frequent appearances, everyone starts getting antsy for those summer days that are almost in reach. Finals loom before everyone dauntingly, reminding them of the study guide that is waiting idly in their desk drawer. But as I rush to the library to review a semesters worth of material, I think back to this past year.

At times it felt like I would never even make it to this point. The winter seemed to drag on in its cold and snowy dreariness. It was as if summer would never arrive, and there was nothing I wanted more than to have the stress of school behind me as I lay out on the sand of the beach. Now the day is here- move out day.

My freshman dorm room has served me well. The pictures of my friends and family have hung on my wall for eight months now. They always reminded me to persevere through the hard and stressful times, because I have people who love me just waiting for me back home. Even some new pictures have been added to that collection. Pictures with people whom I didn't even know eight months ago, but can't imagine living without now. I'm grateful for the people freshman year brought into my life, even though some of them are just mutuals on social media now.

That being said, I'm also grateful for the alone time that came with this year. I learned a lot about myself in the time that I had to learn to be truly independent. I learned the importance of self-growth.

I look forward to this summer with my hometown friends and to make new, beautiful memories. But I also feel secure in knowing that when the time comes to return to school, I'm ready for anything it throws my way.

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” -Nelson Mandela