I never truly understood just how fast time goes by until now. Reality hit me like a truck when I graduated high school because I could not possibly tell you where the previous 18 years of my life had gone. One minute I was a little girl in kindergarten, and the next minute I was a young woman starting on one of the most important journey's of her life. I knew a lot would happen of the next four years, however, I never imagined Jesus would have this much in store for me the first half of my freshman year.
Time. It is a funny thing. I felt like the months were dragging by, and before I knew it, October was here. Then bam, Thanksgiving break. And before I knew it, I was sitting in a desk to take my first college final. It still has not quite sunk in that my freshman year is already half way over.
However, I am not going to tell you that I came to college and had some epiphany about who I am, but I definitely found out who I was not. I found out that I was not some little girl incapable of taking on the world. I found out that I was not weak. I found out that I did not have to stick with the same group of people all the time. I found out that I was not always going to have a blast like shown in the movies.
But most importantly: I found out that all of these things are okay.
It is okay to struggle. College is supposed to challenge you, and take you to new places. For example, I excelled in high school academically. It was a slap in the face to come to college and have a rocky start. I even contemplated changing my major. However, I swallowed my pride and went to a tutor (shout out to Lander for offering free tutoring), and met with professors when I needed to. Once I did this, everything somehow and some way just started falling into place.
Also, people will come and go. I learned to trust my gut instinct about people. Because 99% of the time, it is spot on. Once again, it is okay. I learned that you need to have people in your life that you will grow with: personally, academically, and spiritually. It may take you a little while to figure out who the genuine people in your life are, but I now know who they are, and I am completely okay with that.
It has been an incredible ride so far. Despite the stress and fear of leaving my hometown and everything I ever knew, coming to Lander University was one of the best decisions of my life. I came to college to grow as a student, and everything else fell into place.
