After successfully completing one semester of college, I had a seven week break which was amazing and bittersweet at the same time. It was almost a glimpse into the way that life was before college as I woke up in my own bed every morning and got to shower without wearing flip flops. It’s the little things that you take for granted when you go off to college that you’ll really miss about home. However, once all of my friends started to go back to school a month before me, I started thinking about how second semester was going to go.

My first semester taught me that you aren’t going to get along with everyone, and that is absolutely alright. You don’t have to be everyone’s friend. You should be kind and welcoming to everyone but you have no obligation to be friends with everyone that you meet and you should really remember that. You aren’t going to gel with everyone that you get to know and that is perfectly acceptable. First semester also taught me to take risks and try new things. I was a bit shy in high school, but once I got to college I introduced myself to new people to make friends and I started saying ‘yes’ to more opportunities than I ever had before. I applied for leadership positions and started to write for Odyssey, and I began to break out of my shell. I carried that feeling of empowerment over to this semester by entering the sorority recruitment process, which has been absolutely amazing so far.

I have not one, but two majors while studying here at UD and its not always the easiest thing to do. Between all the math courses and the business courses and the occasional biology course, classes can be super stressful. Luckily for me, first semester I was able to learn what worked for me and what doesn’t when it comes to studying, so this semester I’ll be able to succeed in my coursework. In high school it was always easy to procrastinate and not study until the morning of the test, but in college if you’re behind by even a day it’s seriously hard to make up for the lost time. With clubs, events, and other outings there never really is a moment to just sit and do the work that you didn’t do yesterday.

I feel like everyone’s first semester is an adjustment period. It’s a new situation to adapt to, and no one ever tells you how different it really is. You leave all of your friends and family to come to a new environment that you’ve never spent an extended period of time at, and you live your home. Your home with your bed and your shower and your familiar lifestyle, they all stay behind while you go off to college. Nothing prepares you for the shock that it is, but the only thing that you can do is try your hardest to adapt to all of the newness around you. Join clubs that align with your interests, rush a sorority if you want to make your campus feel smaller, leave your door open and meet the people on your floor, do whatever it is that makes you happy. Learn your study habits and adjust when you see that there is an issue, because trust me, college tests are way different than high school tests. A multiple choice test in high school was something you really didn’t need to study for more than fifteen minutes for, but in college that’s a test you should be studying for a week in advance at the least.

So take a minute and see how your first semester went. Look at what you did and what you didn’t do and decide if you need to make any changes. It’s all a learning curve, no one gets it right on their first try and if they say that they do, they’re lying to you. We’re humans, we are imperfect and wonderful all at the same time and that is a beautiful thing. Here’s to a great second semester!