You cannot believe it. The last nine months flew by and you're wondering where all the time went. In less than a month, your dorm room will be empty, just like how you found it last August. You will have to say farewell to the people you have grown close to over the course of a year and, even harder, say goodbye to the person you have lived with for these nine months.
Freshman year of college was definitely a new experience that pushed you to your limits and helped you grow as a person. Many new memories and experiences have come out of this too, whether it be pulling your first "all-nighter" to finish a paper you had weeks to do or going to dinner every Tuesday with your closest friends. These are the memories that will last a lifetime and the things you will tell your kids about when they are nervous about going to college.
The roller coaster ride experienced throughout these months have been nothing but chaotic, but looking back now, it was all worth it. Freshman year is when we grow the most, as a student and on a more personal level too. College definitely puts a workload on so heavy that no one could have prepared you for, but it also allows you to mature and grow to be more independent for your own good. This means that it has taught you when to say no to going out with friends on a Friday night in order to finish that big project due Monday. It has also taught you to pay more closer attention to when you need to do laundry, after the several times you got caught with no clean pants.
One of the hardest things to let go of after freshman year is the friendships you have gained along the way. These friends have seen you at your highest and lowest points, whether it be after getting the highest grade on an exam after you thought you had failed or feeling overwhelmed and just breaking down because of the lack of sleep you have gotten over the last week. These goodbyes will definitely bring tears to your eyes, but hopefully in three months, you will get to reunite with them and share all of your crazy summer stories with them like you never left each other in the first place.
When you close that dorm door for the last time, just remember all of the crazy memories that happened in there, like having movie nights with your roommate or almost setting off the smoke detector by burning the ramen in the microwave. Then when you walk through campus one last time, remember all of the times you barely made it to class because you accidentally hit stop instead of snooze on your alarm clock. Remember all of the trips to the cafeteria with your close friends in every type of weather imaginable, walking past the library and remembering studying in there for hours for an exam you were sure you would fail. Then when you finally get into your car and drive past your college's sign one last time until next semester, remember all that you got out of freshman year and all of the memories and amazing people you met along the way. Freshman year has set the foundation for the rest of your college career. I hope you had a good one.
