It’s difficult for me to fathom that my freshman year of college is over in two weeks. No more steamed granola with almond milk for breakfast, long walks to class from Straz home, and familiarity of seeing the same faces each time I go into Corms for a late night snack or sit in the AMU while struggling through stats homework.

Last year at this time, I did not want to go to Marquette, and my mom really wanted me to go to school in Milwaukee. She made me go to numerous open houses, tours, and we drove through campus on road trips, while she giddily pointed out landmarks to my confused sisters.

Ultimately, I decided to attend school in a place where this winter lasted the majority of my time here, and today was the first day in what seemed like a lifetime where I could see the greenish grass and there was not a cloud in the sky.

And, the beginning was hard. It wasn’t a movie like plot - I didn’t meet my best friends the first hour of stepping onto campus. I did not have the moment of just knowing I was in my new home. I did not fall in love with my major during my first class. I still miss my hometown, the people back home, and the familiarity of the pattern and the rhythm of everything I have left behind.

I didn’t have those movie plot moments the first few weeks, or even the first month. But, I did have an inkling of a sensation when my journalism teacher told our class “journalism is a front row seat” or as I hugged goodbye the individuals at my service site first semester. I started to have that feeling when I biked to my favorite coffee shop and when I ran down to the lake the first truly warm day of spring.

And looking back, I had that moment countless times late Friday nights eating McCormick pizza, and during Tuesday night mass in Joan of Arc….and many times in between.

I am here to tell you that college is hard - I can say with absolute certainty that I have grown up more this year than I have in my entire life. There was good and bad, and ups and downs and that’s life.

I’ve realized that Kelly Clarkson was onto something in “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and the true meaning behind being busy and little sleep. I’ve met some pretty fabulous people who have seen me at my best and worst, and I’ve seen firsthand what passion and drive truly means.

So as finals weeks rapidly approaches, and packing up and moving out seem more and more like a reality, I’ll say that I am still not sure what I want to do in the future, and college still does scare me a little.

But I’ve also realized those things do not necessarily have to be a bad thing.