I have never been the biggest fan of change. When I first moved into college, I felt excited but nervous. I’d lived with my parents all my life (as is customary for people my age), but the idea of leaving the comfort of my own house, my own room, to live with someone I had met only twice before triggered every worst-case scenario my anxiety-riddled mind could create. Not to mention, every high school teacher I had gave my classes the dreaded “If you think this is hard, college is going to be much worse” spiel. Though I always pulled through in high school, a straight-A student, I suddenly worried that maybe I would drop to a B- and C-grade student. I wasn’t sure I could handle the stress and responsibility of college.

As freshman year passed, I realized that college wouldn’t be so bad. I enjoyed the freedom of living away from my family. I embraced my independence. Sure, I hated lugging my laundry up and down a flight of stairs in what was a perpetual race to acquire a washer, and I have certainly never liked waking up to an alarm or washing my dishes, but being able to keep my side of the room clean when many of my classmates lived in filth made me realize that all of those things aren’t so bad. My mom, I’m sure, will be grateful to know I’ll do those chores willingly.

On top of general housekeeping, I joined clubs, accepted jobs -- to the point where I finally needed a daily planner to keep track of homework, meetings, and work shifts. Whenever a semester ended and I hadn’t needed to drop a commitment because I’d juggled the load, I felt accomplished and powerful. The best part of doing all this was that, despite the stress, I’d still made time for friends and socializing. I hadn’t let myself be totally sucked into a black hole of 10-page papers and student organization meetings.

From freshman year to now, I have grown from an introvert who stayed in her dorm all weekend to a leader who actively seeks time with friends. Sure, I’ll always be shy, but now I can actually look someone in the eye while giving them an awkward “I just met you and have no clue what to say” smile.

With my own personal transformation, I’ve become more open to change. After slugging through each semester, one more difficult than the next, I feel that I have given all that I can and should give to my school. Though many of my peers don’t want to think of the G-word (graduation), because they’re going crazy applying for jobs and graduate schools and can’t help but look at the future and see student loans looming ahead, the idea of graduation has given me a sense of relief. For once, when I pack up my dorm and leave school, I don’t have to think ahead about classes I’ve registered for or clubs I’ll need to manage. Instead, I’ll just see the options I have. I don’t need to go to graduate school right away or find a job with a set salary. I have so much left of my youth that I can use to travel, broaden my experiences, so when I am ready to move forward with my education or get a high-paying job, I’ll have a more developed perspective of the world.

As someone who has worried about whether I made a life-altering decision by wearing my gold necklace rather than my silver, I am beyond relieved to have come so far during the past four years. Even though my summer plans aren’t set, and I don’t know for certain what I’m doing for the next year, I’m not worried. For once, I am ready.