Your freshman year at college is usually your first year away from home, your first year without the company of your parents, family, and hometown friends. It's exciting, but it's also scary. You learn to do so many things and deal with so many more situations. You grow as a person and everything you experience your first year away from home affects you and who you decide to grow up and be.
First of all, I want to thank my parents, for being there even though they are hundreds of miles away. Parents may seem as if they care too much at times, but on those nights when you wish you could be at home more than anything it's great to know that they want you home just as bad. Your parents give you advice when you need it; they give you support when you need it; they also give you…money; but, sometimes they give you a lecture or maybe a phone call of yelling to get you back to reality. Parents want the best for you and will do anything for you and I love them for that even when I hate them. After all, I wouldn’t even be at college if they hadn't raised me into who I am today.
I also want to thank the amazingly intelligent professors I have had this year. I can say that I have never learned so much in a year. I can also say that I have never had so much work... but the hard work has taught me to manage my time, try my best and study what I am interested in. Our professors at college are people just like us and if you actually take the time to talk to them, and let them help you when you need it, you can learn a lot. I have been inspired in so many ways; they make me want to keep studying and working towards who I want to be.
Lastly, I want to thank my friends, new and old.
When you go away to college you find out which friends you want to keep from your hometown; you find out what people mean the most to you. When you're having a rough time with college or your college friends you always know you can call them up, and you always know they will be waiting to hang out with you when you're home. Friends you have grown up with, friends that you know you will have for life… thank you, I couldn't do it without your support, and I also probably wouldn't come back to my hometown without you here.
And to the new friends I met this year, I couldn't be more thankful to have experienced one of the best years of our lives together. Getting out of where you are from and experiencing so many different people with so many different backgrounds is an amazing experience. You learn that everyone is not like the people in your hometown; you learn there are so many different people out there with so much to offer.
You can expand your horizons and view of the world by a simple conversation with a friend. These new friends are also the people you live with, the people you go out with, the people you study with… you see each other through the best and worse. Freshman year can be hard away from home, but the friends you meet that year make it bearable. I want to thank all the amazing people I have met this year, teaching me, helping me, and just making life fun. I know I have met people this year that I want to keep as my friends for life.
Thank you to everyone who made my year worthwhile, and I hope I was able to make your year a little better too!