It has been said that college is the best four years of your life, but for many college freshman the first year is harder than expected. The pressures from academics, social life, and living away from home for the first time bring on a lot stress not felt before college. Loneliness and homesickness set in and it becomes hard to think about anything but the next break from school. Throughout the year I thought I was the only one who felt lonely at school. I would see Instagram, Facebook and Twitter posts of how much fun people were having during their freshman years. What was I doing wrong? Why wasn’t I feeling this way?

The countless nights up late studying by myself, sitting in my room between classes with nothing to do, and watching Netflix alone in my room on Friday nights made me feel as if I was alone. Being stressed and worrying about grades took so much of my energy that I hardly had time for anything else. Having trouble making a solid group of friends and feeling left out was also a frequent that the year started to feel hopeless.

I was worried that the only option for me was to transfer, but I really did not want to do that. I loved a lot of things about my school and I did not want to give those up. After talking with friends from other schools, I realized that there are so many people who struggle with this problem of loneliness in their freshman year. Some of my peers at other schools were feeling the way that I was, and even adults who I talked to remember their freshman years as being hard and lonely as well.

Now that my first year away is starting to come to a close, I’ve realized that the freshman year is not supposed to be easy. The hardships and struggles help us to grow and change into the adults we eventually will become. We cannot become who we want to be when everything is easy, and we are challenged to stick to who we are in the toughest times.

Being yourself is hard in a place when you do not have your family there all of the time supporting you. Venturing out on your own and making all of your own decisions is something new and difficult. Don’t be discouraged when you feel lonely and don’t feel like you are the only one who struggles with your freshman year. There are people out there like you who are struggling with the same things. Be positive and remember there are so many things to look forward to. Things cannot be bad forever and pretty soon everything might work out in your favor.