Going into college is a new chapter in a young adult's life and when you are in high school you are told that college will be the greatest time of your life. It will be the greatest because you will finally get to move out and live on your own. You will have so many more freedoms than you had in high school. They tell you all of these things that sound so amazing but they never want to tell you the negative sides of college.
Right away, moving into college was very exciting and I was very anxious to see my room and meet my roommate and tour campus. Getting my room set up was very fun because my mom, dad, sister, and friend Jimmy were there to help me move in. I remember the exact feeling when my family left me there. My heart instantly sunk into my stomach and I was scared. Throughout my life I have never had to be truly on my own and having adult responsibilities so when my family left I knew that I would have to do things on my own and that I wouldn't get to be home with them when I needed them.
My family only lives an hour and a half away from Luther, but it also feels like they are hours away. I felt like I was jumping right into college and I didn't feel prepared enough to be on my own. I knew that my family would always be there to support me and guide me along the way, but it was just so hard that I couldn't go home every night and be with them. There were many sleepless nights where all I wanted to do was see my mom and be able to talk to her. She always knew how to comfort me when I was scared or sad.
I just completed my first semester of college but I can still say that up until the end, I would still cry every time my parents would come visit and then they would have to leave. Some weekends I would avoid seeing them because I knew that it would be even harder to see them and then have them leave me. I know that going back to college after Christmas break is even going to be harder because I've been able to spend so much time with them and then I'm going to have to go back to college where I will rarely get to see them.
The first time being in college is stressful because you are finally taking classes that will help you with the career that you will have for the rest of your life. Coming into college I wanted to be a Music Education major, but just one week in I switched and wanted to be a Special Education Major, and now I want to be a Elementary Major with a Special Education Minor. The difficult thing about changing my major and not really knowing what I want to do as a career is if later you find out what you want to major in, the longer you will be in college. Depending on your major, you need a certain amount of credits to fulfill your degree.
That has probably been my biggest struggle — finding out what I want to do for the rest of my life. It may sound silly because I am still so young, but the sooner I find out what I want to do, the sooner I can start taking classes that will benefit me in the long run. At this point of a college freshman's life, some people will drop out because it is too hard. That will cross many freshmen's mind. I know that when I finish college and have my dream career that it will be totally worth the hassle of those four years and that I won't regret getting my education. My parents have taught me that no matter what I decide to do, they will support me and guide me down the right path, and because of them I think college is totally worth it.
