It has been almost a year and a half since I started school at Syracuse. From the second I stepped onto campus, I knew I'd be in for the journey of a lifetime; but I never knew how much my life would be changed by coming here. Freshman year was the year of experimenting, trying to find your friends, if you actually like your major, and even just figuring out the party scene. It was a time full of ups and downs, of mistakes, of successes. As I entered sophomore year, I carried the knowledge of the previous year. I was confident I'd fly through the year flawlessly, having "mastered" the art of bleeding orange. But oh was I wrong; I fell and I fell and I made the same silly mistakes from the year before. Though as the semester comes to and end, I look back with nothing but memories. Sophomore year has been better than freshman year in a way, but in the end, it's just been different. My priorities are different, I look at things in a new light.
Your grades don't define you.
Throughout freshman year, I used to constantly be that girl who would freak out over her grades, worrying over the fact she got a B on her paper. I was so used to expecting As that I was worried when that consistency wasn't there. But when I hit this semester, I started to realize crying over my first C didn't mean I was a bad student or I would never be successful in life. A grade on a paper is on a little blemish on your college career that you'll never remember it a few years down the road. It's taken awhile, but I've learned to let it be a motivator not a definer.
Being a sophomore isn't much different than being a freshman.
I thought when I "graduated" from being a freshman, there would be some right of passage. Sure, I'm no longer wandering around campus lost or getting "moo'd" at for walking in herds to parties, but nothing really changes. Besides getting a better enrollment time and a choice of dorm, we're all the same in the end. There's always someone who has more experience than you, you'll always be the "newbie" in some sense. The difference between a freshman and sophomore is merely a title.
I'm better than the guy I used to settle for.
Having had not that much experience in high school, I was overwhelmed with the hookup culture coming to school. I knew I wanted something more coming into it but as I went to party upon party, I realized I was only shooting at the stars. I soon found myself settling for someone who made me feel like I was wanted. Whether I realized it or not at the time, I began displacing my old desires onto the person, living in a false world where I was more caught up in the idea then with reality itself. And it sucked as I found myself over and over again being let down. So it's taken time, but I've begun to learn it's better to have nothing at all then force myself to like the idea of something. I'm better than someone who only wants me when it's convenient, the temporary happiness is not worth it.
The little things aren't important.
One of the main things I've realized is that bullshit is irrelevant. You're only in college for four years, you're supposed to enjoy that time, not worrying over the silly little things. You're not gonna remember the guy that cancelled your date last minute or the fact someone referred to your sorority as "bottom tier." Those things don't matter, you can't let the little things run your life. Life is about living in the moment, enjoying everything you've done right, not worrying about what you could have done.
You can keep your friends from freshman year.
I was worried as I entered freshman year I would lose touch with the amazing people I had met the year before. I was so used to seeing them 24/7, I didn't know how it would be not seeing each other for everything. But as the year began, I realized that a friendship is not built on how much you see each other. A true friendship can stand whatever is thrown in its way as long as you make an effort. Being in a sorority doesn't change you as a person if you don't let it. They were there for you through the ups and downs of everything last year, there's no way any of that can ever be forgotten.
So as this semester comes to an end, I look back with nothing but love and memories. So here's to everything next semester has in store for us, cheers.