It’s very hard to believe that just a few years ago, I was a wide-eyed, first generation college student that had no background of college culture whatsoever. I mean, I do have family members that went to college in the US, but most of them graduated over a decade ago! It really feels like just yesterday, I was on VCU’s campus for the very first time, carrying around a map with all my classes marked on it! Now that I’ve been here 3 years, it’s very exciting as well as scary as I move towards my senior year of undergrad! I truly can’t believe that time has passed so hastily amongst all the rush and stress of assignments, exams, homework, meetings and etc., etc! Honestly, I didn’t believe people when they said that “Oh! College changes you”. However, over these few years, I have seen the greatest amount of changes in me, in terms of thinking and beliefs as well as understanding the world around me!

During the beginning of freshmen year, I was very homesick because I am very close to my family and so, I constantly missed them! I was put up to dorm on an off-campus dorm where none of my other friends were and this added more to my loneliness. However, over the course of the first few weeks, I learned to engage and talk to my unknown floor mates, considering I was an introverted person. After talking to many of them for multiple instances, I became very comfortable around them and even made some excellent friends in a few of them. Going to classes and meeting strangers there made my interactions very easy-going and I became more social and confident in my talks. I even learned that a few of my class mates were in the same dorm as me and so, this caused us to stay up late and talk to each other all the time and this truly helped create many strong bonds! I still can’t forget the days when my freshmen friends and I used to hang out, study till late nights, have movie nights in each other’s rooms, and complain about the bus each and every time! I share those memories with them still to this day and that is what makes our friendship so unique! Coming into college after freshmen year gave me a better sense of exploring different opportunities and truly took my out of my miniscule shell!

Furthermore, there are many new things that college has taught me and I want to share this with future students! Firstly, remember that you should always be open to new things! It’s so important to explore as a human being because this is how you gather your worldly knowledge and perspective of a lot of things! College is a great new time to try so many new things, such as taking a dance class, learning a foreign language, or even trying out a major that you have no previous knowledge of! This is your time to step out of your comfort zone and adventure on your own! This being said, you should never be forced into something that you aren’t comfortable with! Just because the whole world is doing something, it doesn’t mean that you do it too, even if you disagree with it! Learning to follow your own principles and beliefs is as necessary as trying new things. Next, the first month or so is going to be rough! Not even going to lie to you, but you have to start realizing that mom and dad aren’t there anymore to tackle your problems for you, so you better haul your butt to professor’s offices, financial services, health center, or anywhere in fact where you might have a question or concern for!

More importantly, you have to realize that your college dream with change. I know that many people go to college with a goal and a firm belief that they are set to have one career. Believe I was definitely one of these people until I went through my first year of college! I realized that just saying that you’re going to be this or that doesn’t work, and that it really is okay if your goals change according to the circumstances in your college experience! Moreover, I have now come to strongly belief that changes are necessary and your goals have to be realistic to your capabilities and understanding. You should always continue to pursue your dreams, but it is not a bad thing to consider various options to have a happy and successful career in!