As the months turn cold, the semester comes to a close and finals sadly approach, I refect on how my first year of college has gone and some of the things I have learned along the way. Maybe in my writing, a senior in high school somewhere will think about what is coming in their near future. Or other college students can learn about how boring I am on the weekends. Here's some of my thought as I finish the first semester of my freshman year.

My first semester was not as bad as I expected it to be. I was expecting to not be able to do any extracurricular activites and to rarely leave my room in attempts to get good grades as a science major. But, I was wrong in so many ways. To begin, I am involved in good number of extracurricular like campus ministry, retreat team, theatre, ultimate frisbee and swing dance, just to name a few. At least once a week, I was out doing something for one of my clubs on campus. I would only be in my room late at night when I couldn't fall asleep because of all the coffee I drink. However, just because I'm super involved doesn't mean I have bad grades; it just means I had to learn to manage my time. I spend time with my friends who are also science majors in study groups or working on labs together. I was expecting so much more stress than I had. The stress that I had came in two ways, procrastination or expected stress that cam from scheduling classes. So yes, my first semester went well,and I am so glad it did.

College isn't all about parties. Sure, they can be fun, but not having gone to a party yet, I don't feel like I'm missing out. I have just as much fun hanging out with friends in our dorm building play the Wii or watching movies. Yes, some of my friends do go to parties. But, that's just not what I want to remember about my first semester. I feel that if you are not a party person, there's bound to be someone else on campus who feels the same. But, if you're a party person, have at it.

I've learned that some things are just out of your control. There are so many things that I can't possibly think I could influence in anyway. For example, scheduling classes isn't 100% in my power. I have no ability to say how many spots are open in a class and whether I will get in. Freshman are the bottom of the totem pole, so we basically got the left overs from everyone else. So, I had to sort through everything that was left and figure out a schedule that would work for me. But, I couldn't control how fast the Wi-Fi was the night of registering or how fast my pages loaded, I had to leave this all up to chance. I had to learn to accept I don't posses the capabilities to control everything under the sun.

I've come find my place. I can say that over the past semester, I've grown into my place. I found that two things share my heart: faith and theatre. And no matter which of these I'm at an event for, I have so many friendly faces that surrond me. I have my fellow theatre nerds that accept the fact I randomly quote shows that I've been and can willing perform most of the shows for them. Also, my campus ministry friends of my Catholic faith, are always ready for some K-Love Radio or for a quick prayer of thanks to God. I never have to worry about eating alone, either. In fact, one day when I was eating alone, my fellow castmates from a show that we just finshed came and sat with me. These two groups have made me feel so welcomed into my college and I'm so thankful to be a part of them,

So, as my first semester comes to an end and I begin to stress over finals, I feel my first semester of school couldn't have gone any better. I thank God for guiding me along the way and helping me make right choices and finding my place. So, here's to the next seven semesters and that they go as well as the first.