Looking back at the end of another quarter, it really does feel as though it's been a whole year, not just 10 weeks. Last year, when I was a freshman, I wasn't prepared for the fast pace of the quarter system, but I knew that just about every aspect of my life was going to very quickly and drastically change, at least in the beginning. As a sophomore, I’m still trying to get used to the chaotic blur that is daily life.

In chemistry, we have a concept of a system striving for and reaching equilibrium. For a reversible reaction, both sides of the equation will balance out and the system will stabilize. Components may be taken away or new ones may be introduced, but the system will react to counter those “stresses” and, given time, come back to equilibrium. Fascinating, isn’t it? In many ways, I see the same laws govern my life here (being a Biochemistry major, can you blame me?).

In the immortal words of Jhene Aiko, “Change is inevitable,” and especially this past quarter, I’ve felt the weight of those words. Learning to embrace and respond to change — within yourself, the people around you, your environment, and everything else — is so unspeakably crucial to evolving as a person and, more importantly, to being happy.

I decided I’m going to do things differently this time around. Starting off my second year, I had a vision of myself as the person I wanted to be and I decided that I was going to start taking steps to fulfill that vision. Of course, concurrently to my own development, all of the people close to me are going through their own evolutions. The way people look at me and treat me has changed, and my own interaction style with people is constantly going through adjustments. I’m trying to be courageous. I’m trying to be the person I’m supposed to be. Nobody said it’d be easy, though. Within my close friend group, a lot of dynamics have shifted, and I’ve become closer to people who I wasn’t close with before, and slightly distanced from some people that I was close with before. All of this has been uncomfortable at first, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s OK to be uncomfortable for a while — it teaches you to be flexible.

Meeting new people, building new relationships, and getting comfortable with myself is all a part of my ongoing journey, and I am reminded of this every quarter. This is how you evolve: have a vision of yourself, know who you are and who you want to be, and do not be afraid to make space for yourself. In the fast pace of university life, we are constantly being bombarded by stressors and new circumstances, but that is exactly why having a strong core and having personal rules is critical, because they allow you to branch out and respond to new situations without ever compromising being true to yourself. If you are always true to yourself, it’s hard to be anything less to anyone else.