To The Class Of 2022, We Did It, We Survived First Semester
A thank you to the new learning experience that is college.
There are simply too many words to describe the completion of your first semester of college. Being on what it seems like a whirlwind of emotions, you may be coming out of the first semester disappointed, happy, lukewarm, or just OK. Either of those is normal and perfectly OK.
With so much change and adjustment, it was easy to feel defeated, have too many high expectations of all the activities you want to do, and being able to balance school at the same time. However, with all the newness and change I feel that first-year students forget to thank themselves for putting in hard work to get good grades this semester, making new friends, or getting involved.
I want to say it's OK if this semester wasn't that great. It was only the first one, and you have so many more opportunities to flourish as a person. Maybe you had a psycho roommate that you absolutely couldn't live with, fearful of putting yourself out there constantly, trouble finding your group, or didn't really know where to start. Some people know exactly what they want to do and others still have time to figure things out.
Even though it was difficult being away from home, and living in a dorm, completing the first semester or year of college is probably the biggest learning experience any person has. We're all learning how to become competent communicators and function as a person, but also have fun in the process. Living in a dorm has been stressful, to say the least coming from rural Virginia and only having a couple of neighbors, compared to living around a good amount of people. However, it has been the most rewarding experience by feeling unexpected support from others in passing and striking up a random conversation with someone.
Know that you still have half a year left to make the rest of the first year count as something special and achieving. Whether it is getting involved in one more activity or making close friendships, learn how to make that happen for yourself. Continuing to try more new things for the rest of this year is the best way to get involved and meet new people and friends.
The last thing to remember is that you are not alone. There is someone who feels the same ups and downs and struggles as you. I promise there are people out there like you. You just have to keep talking to people and find them.
It's hard to believe that my first year at JMU is halfway over, which is really scary. It will be weird not seeing the same people as I did first semester or next year. In college, life changes by the hour or even the minute.
At times we forget that college is fun instead of the consuming stress and a boatload of work. We're not going to be in college forever and need to enjoy as much as we can. Otherwise, time will pass us by.
