It was you. You, one boy, who tried to use your power to ruin what I had planned to be my best year yet. From the second that it happened—the breakup, the other girl you brought home or even my favorite, the classic “You shouldn’t come around anymore” text—I knew that my world was forever changed by you. In the beginning, I was angry. Actually, angry didn’t even cover it. I was upset, I was furious, I was broken and I was confused. “This isn’t happening to me,” I kept repeating to myself over and over as if that would change your decision. “This isn’t real.” But it was real, and it has changed me in the most unexpected ways. This semester has been one filled with growth, change and unexpected realizations.

You thought you were destroying me. This was the end of me, I know you were sure. I was sure, at first, that you were right. I was convinced that my friends would leave me behind, my life would never be the same, and I would lose everyone that I had worked so hard to build relationships with in an instant. I was terrified of being left in the dust while my friends continued to live their lives unchanged. My fears, however, were never realized. My friends supported me instead of leaving me. They laughed with me, cried with me and planned many fun nights to include me even though it was a change from their typical plans. This semester, I have become a million times closer with my froomies than ever before, expanded my friend group and met people who continually challenge and push me to be better. What more could you want from a friend? And without you, none of this would have happened. You reminded me that I don’t need big parties, hundreds of people or drinking to enjoy my friends. I love them as they are—their weird, quirky, unique selves.

You thought you were changing me. You did change me. In fact, you have probably changed me more than any other person since coming to college. I was on the path of least resistance. I was doing what I thought college kids were supposed to do, not holding myself or my actions accountable to anyone, and making poor decisions. That was all gone in an instant, I no longer had that choice. All of the sudden, I had to take the high road, the path less traveled, and define myself with something more than my friend group and choice of activities. The transition was not one that I was looking forward to at all, but it has created a new and improved girl ready to take on the world. I realized how much I love to serve, how much I can give to my school, and how happy I am with taking a less traveled path because I am a better person for it. For the first time since coming to college, I feel like my true self again. I feel happy, radiant, caring, kind, focused and successful. I am no longer the teen who let a boy influence her, I am stronger for having known you and for what you did. I am better for it.

Finally, after days of coming to terms with what happened, I realized something. Yes, your decision changed me; however, it was just that, your decision. I didn’t have any part in it and there was nothing I could do to change it. I was at your mercy for that one decision, but I am not anymore. You thought that with that one choice, that one action, you were changing my life. You did change my life, but not for the worst. I am better for having known you, for your choice and for picking up the pieces that you left. I have changed so much over such a short amount of time, but I am finally happy. My year was not ruined, you see, for you gave me the most beautiful new life!