My sophomore year at Ole Miss started on Monday, and I came into this year with a new goal - to stand out.

To be completely honest, my first year at Ole Miss felt disheartening. I went to a small high school and had been involved in every club we had - I was even president of most of them at some point or another. I played multiple sports and was constantly busy because of the extra classes I was taking. At my small, country high school, I stood out. I felt extraordinary.

I walked onto Ole Miss's campus last year optimistic about all the things I would accomplish. I would follow my family legacy to the sorority that my grandmother, aunts, and cousins had all joined. I would join Ambassadors and lead new students to the University of Mississippi. I would join ASB Senate and make a change that the students here would appreciate. Except none of that happened.

I ended up joining a different sorority. I wasn't selected to be an Ambassador. I wasn't voted onto Senate. I felt defeated, disappointing, and, most often, bored. In high school, I had something to do every night. I had no clue what the word "downtime" meant.

I would stay up until 2 in the morning working on projects, but at Ole Miss, I would stay up until 2 in the morning watching Netflix because I felt like I had nothing better to do.

Over the summer, I had plenty of time to think. I thought about all the opportunities I had missed out on because I had felt like it wasn't worth trying when I "knew" I would fail. I realized how many opportunities had presented themselves, but I had already decided I was "ordinary" here.

I had decided I would never stand out, that I was a little fish in a big pond trying not to get swallowed by bigger fish. But then I realized even the smallest fish grow, and that is my intention this year. I found a home in my sorority (which I love), and I am going to leave my legacy there.

I'm trying out for the Ambassadors program again, hoping for the best because now that I've been here a year, I know my way around campus and have an understanding of the traditions Ole Miss holds.

I'm going to run for ASB Senate at every election until I get voted in because now I know more people and know what changes I hope to make on this campus. I'm involved with RebelTHON, the largest student led organization on campus, trying to raise money for Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital as a representative for my sorority, a dancer, and a fundraiser.

I refuse to feel ordinary this year. Just because I didn't come from a large, well known high school that sends hundreds of students to Ole Miss every year, just because I came in knowing two people on this campus, just because I didn't make the most of my first year on campus, doesn't mean I won't try harder this year. I am at Ole Miss to stand out, and that is what I fully intend to do.

So whether it is your first year here at Ole Miss - as a freshman or transfer student - or you just had a rough first year, or first few years, I want to let you know that you can stand out. You can be involved.

Maybe not in what you originally wanted to be involved in, but you can find something to make your own and delve into. You weren't involved in high school? That's okay because Ole Miss has over 100 organizations to choose from.

You tried last year and kept getting told "no"? Try again this year and hope for that "yes" or join a club you don't have to try out for. Start your own club with the friends you made and wait for more people to flood into your awesome group.

Go out and meet new people, make new friends, establish new connections - you never know, they could be more beneficial than you ever imagined. Take the time to believe in yourself, take initiative and make a name for yourself if you want to. You can stand out - because you are extraordinary.