To you, second semester seniors finally making up for four years of missed sleep --
You’re excited, or maybe a little bit nervous. Some of you know where you’re going -- got in early decision and have been anxiously awaiting your first semester of college for months. Some of you have a choice to make, very soon, and are biting your nails hoping that the college you pick is the right one. And, some of you are still checking your e-mails, hoping that maybe the school of your dreams will let you in off their waitlist.
You should be excited. College is wonderful -- you’re independent, in charge of your schedule, and have the opportunity to really get to know yourself, as cliché as it sounds. But, with that independence comes the realization that you’re really alone.
It’s fun, getting the opportunity to meet interesting, incredible and diverse new people. But not gonna lie, it’s a little bit scary too. Imagine going to a party absolutely alone. You walk in by yourself and hope no one wonders why you were invited. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you see someone you know. But it’s not your best friend, just someone you can say hi to when you pass by. So yeah, you’re at a party, frighteningly alone. It’s not all bad -- you get to mingle, make friends, have fun, but there’s still a sort of fear that you don’t quite belong there.
You’re going to make friends, I promise you. You’re going to make friends really quickly actually… the first week of school you’ll find them, and go out with them, and take a ton of photos that you'll look back at a couple of months later, wondering if you can even still remember their names.
You’re going to make friends, but for a while, they’re just going to make you miss your old friends -- the people you knew how to talk to and what to talk to about. You’ll get a little frightened -- these so-called new “friends” -- the people you spend 80 percent of your days with have pasts and stories that you know absolutely nothing about. And while it’s kind of nice that you can start over, you’re going to miss having people that know you, embarrassing stories included.
First semester’s going to pass, and you’re going to realize that some of those friends were just friends of circumstance. You don’t actually get along with Susie, or Jacob, they were just always around. And it’s frustrating to realize that some of these people aren’t who you thought they were, or hoped that they would be.
But, you’re also going to make some incredibly close friends. People that you spend 80 percent of your time with, and are happy to do so. People that somehow, in only three months of knowing you, know more about your history than even your best friends from high school had ever really known.
For now though, you’ll spend your summer still scared and still excited. And you should be.
