With apps like Facebook and TimeHop, it is easy to see how months and years can pass by. A year can go by in the blink of an eye. While each day might only see the slightest change from the day before, when 365 days have passed by, we may find ourselves in a completely different place in our life than we used to be.

A year ago today, I was packing up for my first year of college. I was getting ready to make a move which is something I had not done in 15 years. I was leaving my high school, my friends, my home and my state entirely. This was going to be a year of freedom and I had so many questions with very little answers. Was I going to love my choice for college? Would I be in a sorority? Would I get along with my roommate? Where would my new friends be from? Was I going to stay in my major? Was I even making the right choices?

A year later, on the penultimate night of my summer home, I have answered all those questions. I love my college choice and I have no regrets about where I go to school. My sorority has become a second family. My freshman roommate and I got along. My friends are from all over – Kansas, Washington, Louisiana, Texas and even 20 minutes from my home. And lastly, yes, I am still a journalism major. I made the right choices.

Looking back at this last year all at once, like a Snapshot, helps me to see what I have accomplished and how I have grown — physically, emotionally and more.

This past year was full of lots of changes for me, as it was for many college freshmen, and it’s really crazy to realize just how much a typical day differs for me right now compared to during the same time last year.

It’s also nice to look back at all that I have accomplished in a year — in all my aspects of life. For me, it’s reassurance that all my hard work was not for nothing; that even though I may not see it daily, when I look at the bigger picture, the path I am taking is full of milestones. It helps me to trust that this path that I have made is headed in the right direction — whatever that direction may be.

What is amazing is the fact I have so much to look forward to this year. A year from now, I will be halfway done with my college degree. I could be packing up to study abroad. Maybe I will be finishing up my dream internship... who knows? Those questions are yet to be answered.

Whatever may happen, I know I will continue to change and grow. I may be stuck to this timeline, but I know I want to make the best of it.