You don't realize how much has changed in your life until you find the time to reflect on it.

Change is inevitable and it is hard. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad but it always comes unexpectedly. College is probably the biggest time for it and holds thousands of different paths for you to take.

First starting college is a new chapter in itself. It's a moment you worked twelve years for and what many people around you expect that you continue with for your education. But no one ever tells you that it's not just entering college as a whole that's a new beginning, but each semester as well.

Whether it's coming back from summer or winter break, there is something unique about each semester. You can catch up with old friends and make new ones, join clubs or do things you never thought you'd do. This can only lead to entirely different roads and could very much shape the person you'll become.

A new beginning doesn't have to be big. It doesn't have to always be grand or ending some pivotal phase in your life. Sometimes new beginnings come from the people you meet and the experiences you go through in your normal day.

Now going into my third year of college, I had no idea how different life would be when I began. I know that certain circumstances I've experienced in college (and should I even mention the amount of work) I would not have been able to handle years ago.

College isn't one entire chapter. It's a story of multiple chapters portion into one part of your life. There will be cherished beginnings, bitter endings, mature decisions and reckless mistakes. The best part about it is that each is a chance to make something of it.

And perhaps the most rewarding part of knowing all this is that this is finally the time to shape yourself into the person you want to be. The friends you are meant to be with will stick with you. The events that are meant to happen will happen, whether you want them to or not.

Look forward to each semester because no two are ever the same. If you find yourself thinking about how much things have changed, remark on it as a good thing. You are meant to grow and become a new person by the end.