Y'ALL. I DID IT. I survived my first semester of college!

Only four short months ago, I got in my car with my entire closet and took on the drive to Waco. I moved into my dorm room, tried my best to turn it into my new home, and hugged my crying mom goodbye. I was excited, nervous, and I had no idea what on earth was ahead of me.

People say that you grow the most in college, and I already understand what they meant. After eighteen years of being pretty sheltered and having curfews, all of that was gone. I had freedom, and I didn't have to ask for permission to go out anymore. It was completely up to me whether or not I chose to party, go to class, or anything else you can think of. I had to find where my priorities lied.

Besides that, I had to learn how to be more independent. I had to learn to take care of myself without my mom's help. I had to adjust to not being able to see my best friend every day and laugh my guts out with her. I had to consciously make an effort to spend time with my new friends in order to build new relationships. I had to adjust to not living two minutes away from my boyfriend and starting a long distance relationship.

I found myself struggling most in college not because of grades, friends, or the decisions I made. I was struggling because I realized that adapting to change was harder than I expected it would be. As someone who moved quite a bit in my childhood, I thought that going to college would be just another move for me. But my struggle with this move was different than the rest; this time, I was leaving much more of myself behind than I ever had to before.

Now I will admit that I had it much easier than most people. I'm less than three hours away from home and many of my closest friends are at school with me. However, I realized that even if I had pieces of home with me on top of plenty of new friends, it was still possible (and maybe even normal) to feel lonely. I learned that I could sometimes get away with bottling up my emotions in high school, but doing the same in college can be toxic. It still is a learning process for me every day.

All of the hard lessons aside, I have met some pretty incredible people. Never in my life have I gotten more comfortable around so many people so quickly. By the end of the first couple of days, I already had reached the atrocious selfie level of friendship with a hand full of people. I got to start with a clean slate and have people get to know who I am now, not the girl who was _____ in high school, and it felt like a million bucks. The people that I've grown to love, whether they be my roommates, people down the hall from me, people from band, or people from class, have served as great reminders of what true friends are, and I know that I wouldn't be the same without them.

While I had my fair share of good, bad, and ugly days, I know with 100% certainty that coming to this school was part of God's plan with me. He has reminded me of what it takes to trust Him and how that starts with putting my desires last. I now can approach a lot of situations that I wouldn't have been able to do before with confidence, and for that, I'd take having to learn what independence is for me the hard way any day. While I am so thankful to get to go home and recharge, I also look forward to coming back and growing even more as a person and as a follower of Christ. But, for now, I'll see you next semester, Waco.