Dear freshman year,
Going into this I was terrified of the unknown and didn’t know what to expect when it hit me that I was going to be a college freshman. I didn’t know if I would be able to make new friends or what would be in store for me. Now coming to the last week of freshman year and looking back on this first year of college, it has been such a whirlwind of excitement, stress, lows, and highs, but the most amazing year of my life so far.
Thank you for the new amazing friendships I’ve made. Coming into college I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to make friends or find people I could be myself around. However, I found some of the most genuine, best people I could ever ask to walk into my life. You guys fill my life with so much joy and we can count on each other to be there from tears of sadness to tears of laughter. You have all become a family to me and we’ve made memories that I will cherish forever. From late-night Walmart runs to hour-less times eating dinner together to sleepovers in the dorms you’ve made this transition so meaningful and I can’t express how much you all mean to me.
Thank you freshman year for the many occurrences of late nights stressing over assignments and projects because they showed me I can get tasks accomplished while running on no sleep. For the professors giving last minute assignments at the busiest and worst part of the semester that have shown me that I can work under pressure. For the snow days that messed up schedules and caused professors to move assignments and deadlines around, but gave me the opportunity to procrastinate and hang out with friends in the snow instead of work on assignments. For the internet and school web page messing up at the worst possible time because I had to find alternative ways to get things done. For having the desire to be involved in a lot of different organizations and commitments and then realizing you’re spreading yourself too thin and all of these commitments are just stressing you out.
Thank you for making me a better person and giving me the experiences I needed to become a more mature and well-rounded individual. Looking back on this past year it blows me away how far I’ve come. I’ve learned to look at situations more maturely and handle them in a better way. I’ve become a more confident person and believe in myself more, which is something I never thought I would say a year ago. I’ve become more independent and do things on my own without thinking twice such as making appointments on the phone and going to the grocery store or even walking around campus by myself. Those things seem so juvenile, but in high school those type of activities stressed me out, but now they are normal because I put what I have to get done over how I feel about it and now it feels completely ordinary to be independent and by myself and I’m so grateful I’ve reached that point in my life.
I can’t thank you enough freshman year. You’ve been the best year of my life so far because you have given me amazing opportunities, allowed me to have amazing friends and professors come into my life that have embellished and made my life so much better. You’ve given me a brand new mindset and maturity I’m so grateful I have embodied. You’ve given me the kind of schoolwork that challenges me to be the best I can be. I’m going to miss you dearly, but I can’t wait to see what is in store for me in the future.
