I'm not going to lie to you, my freshman year of college was amazing. However, now that I have reflected on my school year this summer, I do have one regret. That regret was not expanding my horizons.
Yes, I love my friends to death. Yes, I would go out of my way for anyone. And yes, I was extremely cliquey because I was not ready to go out of my comfort zone. I would talk to the same people everyday in class, at the sorority house and out at Midtown.
But, what really gets me going is how different my life is now that I have reached out to others. It all began this summer. I decided to sign up for the Summer C term at UF. This semester would last 12 weeks and I would be living with two close friends. At first, I was a little nervous. I thought I would have the most boring summer. Little did I know that I was going to have one of the greatest summers. Anyway, it was time to drive back up to Gainesville and begin my summer. Within the first week of classes, I adjusted to my new internship/class schedule and was doing just fine. Each weekend, my two roommates and I decided we would go on spontaneous, aventurous trips to keep ourselves entertained. Our first trip would be to Ginnie Springs, a place where we could float around in tubes and tan. Yes, we could have just gone the three of us, but we knew the more people, the more fun we would have. I don't remember exactly who invited who, but we invited two girls in our sorority that we obviously knew of, but were not relatively close with. Today, I am grateful that we reached out to each other because those two girls I now consider two of my closest friends at UF. This was only the beginning.
Next, I moved into my sorority house. I went in with a completely open mind about who I would be friends with. I decided to clear my mind of who I believed was in which friend group. I walked in day one knowing that I was going to make new friends and keep the old. To start, I reached out to girls I knew were in my classes. That was only the beginning. I sat with new girls at meals, watched my favorite TV shows with girls I've never spoken to before, and just hung out in people's rooms with groups of new girls. I love saying hi to new faces and just knowing in the back of my head I can knock on so many doors in the house if I ever needed to vent.
This semester, I am very happy with the choices I made going into this school year. One of my best friends is someone I connected with in the beginning of this summer before Summer C. You never know where a friendship could spark. Talk to people that aren't in your friend group, say hi to familiar faces when you are out and most importantly don't let "friend groups" scare you from making new friends. I am beyond happy that I decided to expand my horizons and I know I have made life-long friends.
