Freshman year of college has the tendency to change you, and it is a change that comes like the wind and makes all the great aspects of you, even better. I wrote the following prompt in my very first month of school my freshman year.

If you were around me from after Christmas break, up until August 22, you probably heard me say “I can’t wait to be in college,” about one million times. While this whole new experience is amazing and challenging, there is just part of me that misses home. From the smell of my house to hearing the twins fight in the other room, there is nothing quite like home. My mom always tells me of all the fun college was, and how when even things weren’t going her way, she should always rely on her friends. That’s what this post is about; new friendship. I truly believe that Baker University is one of Kansas’ best kept secrets, for this place is unlike any other college in the great U.S. You can’t walk more than ten steps out your door and not see someone you know, or not have someone say hi to you. Even though I have only been on campus one week, I know that I already fit in, and can start to find the person I am. I not quite sure what this world has in store for me, all I know that I am meant to be here, and it is good.

What an amazing transformation I’ve made, however, there is one aspect of the passage that will never change and that is not knowing what the world has in store for me. There is a constant opportunity around every corner, it just so happens that not everyone takes the initiative to go find it.

Many incoming students will have an attitude of fear, and that can be exemplified through worry, fret, or hard confidence. I didn’t allow myself to not have it “all together” and that was the fear speaking out about the new life I was about to embark on. I received so much great advice during my first year, and while most of it was helpful, no one told me what I find to be most useful, that it is okay to not have all the answers. I know many people who seem to have it “all together” but it is okay to take time in deciding what is best for you.

Remember that everyone who is on top worked to get there, in one way or another. “A smooth sea never made a worthy sailor” and I find this to be most true your first year of college. If we are not challenged, then why even go to school? College is meant to not only challenge us in the classroom but also in how we govern our lives with the choices we decide to make. For those entering your first year on your own, all I can say is embrace the change, stick to your guns, and find a lesson in all you do, even failure.