With the end of my first semester of college comes reflection. Reflection of my classes, all the friends I have made, and most of all, a reflection of everything I've learned. College is a whole new experience and from that, I've come up with 5 things to live by.
Believe in something.
I've learned that to make the most out of life, you have to believe in something. Finding my faith in God has helped me with this journey and finding that certain spiritual aspect has saved me in so many ways. It has helped me with soul-searching and realizing what I need in life. Find something to believe in, whatever that may be. Have ambitions and dreams to look forward to and you'll end up where you're supposed to end up.
Realize your worth.
Coming into college, it was hard to realize my worth. I was constantly surrounded by frat guys that use alcohol and girls to build their confidence. The thing that I've learned? I shouldn't surround myself with that because I know my worth. I don't ever need anyone to complete me. I know what I deserve and it is certainly not someone who disrespects girls. Use college as a time to put yourself first. Know your worth and what you stand for. There will always be people who try to put you down, but as long as you stand firmly, you'll be fine.
It's okay to not be okay.
Don't be embarrassed of crying or being so stressed out you feel like you can't take a breath of air. Life is hard and you're not always going to be a happy, smiling person. It's okay to be worried about your grades and it's okay to care about that random boy that keeps breaking your heart. Just realize you are more than all of that. It's okay to not be okay, but you have to get back up and try to heal yourself too.
Failure is apart of life.
You have so many choices to make in life and making a wrong choice is inevitable. Don't put yourself down for the mistakes you have made. Life is about learning from these mistakes. It's about getting back up and trying again. Don't worry about these mistakes either. Everyone fails at some point. In my opinion, failures are put into your life so you become stronger from them. It's not about the failures, it's about how you move on from them.
Love yourself.
This is one that I constantly struggle with, but it is truly the most important. What I've learned from these past 5 months is that you're wasting your time putting yourself down. You are wasting your time. Read that again and realize what I'm trying to say. Life is so short and if you spend all of it hating yourself and picking out every single flaw, then you'll look back with so much regret. As cheesy as this sounds, what matters is whats inside. You can't change what you look like, how you were made, or your body shape. But you can change your views about yourself. Loving yourself brings so much more positivity in your life.
My first semester of college has brought me these life lessons and I'm so glad I learned them because I'll be able to take them anywhere through life. I'll be able to take this knowledge into my next semester of college and I know that they'll make my second semester even better than the first.
