Three hundred sixty-five days; how can you possibly sum that up into a sentence? Even into a paragraph for that matter. As a college freshman, so many milestones take place throughout those days: the senior “lasts” (last homecoming, last prom, last day of high school), graduation, eighteenth birthday, moving to college, and the freshman “firsts” (first exam, first frat party, first pound of the freshman fifteen). Again, how can you sum that up?

Honestly, those milestones are almost meaningless. Yes, I got a degree, became an “adult”, and started college, but I wouldn’t remember all of those things without scrolling through the 2016 Photo Album on my phone. So I’m sitting in front of my laptop trying to piece together this change and explain who I am compared to who I was. What words do you use? I didn’t drastically grow up because, let’s face it, college freshmen aren’t adults. Heck, some of us just discovered what a dryer sheet was less than four months ago. I didn’t become some alter ego of my high school self. I didn’t have some life changing moment where I realized I wasn’t the same. Yet I have changed and somehow, throughout all of these things, I became so different from who I was in January of 2016. So here I am. Three hundred sixty-five days later.

I think that everyone has a different experience with high school. You either loved it, were indifferent, or hated it. Ultimately though, whether you were the jock-king of the school type or the introvert in the back row type, high school is no longer relevant. After you graduate and leave behind those hallowed halls, you leave behind who you were, too. You can hold onto certain things like your letterman’s jacket and locker buddies, but it doesn’t change that you’re no longer that person. This concept sounds saddening in a sense. More likely than not, you’ll lose your former friends, interests, passions, attitudes, etc., but this also comforting.

In college, you’re starting something new. While it’s only a four-year chapter, it’s the doorway to who you’ll be for the rest of your life. You’re meeting new friends who will be there for you through all of the next major milestones (graduation 2.0, marriage, creating a family). Some of those you meet won’t only be there for you, but be there with you. You’re taking classes that are prompting new passions that will pave the way for your future career path. You’re growing your professional development and maturity. You’re learning lessons that you wouldn’t learn in any other way. Freshman year is an open window that refreshes you from the past thirteen years.

To compare and contrast yourself in any sense makes you more aware of who you are and ultimately helps for you to grow. A year’s reflection of a college Freshman is incredibly valuable. These changes that took place over the span of three hundred sixty-five days are the biggest changes that will happen in your life. Write them out. Find the words of who you were and who you are. Understand that you are a changed person. Most importantly, don’t hold onto the past too tightly. Your high school friends and passions may have once been of great value, but don’t let them stop you from taking the most crucial and magical steps of your life. Take them. Look back and smile at all you’ve achieved. Turn back forward. Encourage yourself and be ready for the three hundred sixty-five days ahead because the next best is yet to come.