As my senior year of college is finally getting underway, a new batch of freshman is entering the system. It didn’t hit me until this year, seeing these people wander around campus as they attempt to find their way from point A to point B, but a lot has changed for me since I was a freshman. It’s strangely nostalgic, looking back at all the things that happened only three years ago.

1. My college experience.

One thing I realized while reminiscing about the past is that I didn’t experience that “traditional college” experience that I anticipated I would when I entered as a freshman. I didn’t go partying all the time, or really at all. It just wasn’t for me. I didn’t become the best of friends with my first roommate like I hoped. Instead, I had a roommate who was never there, his absences sometimes spanning over a whole month. Honestly, it was way better than I thought it was going to be. Instead of being best pals with my almost fictitious roommate, I found a few people on the floor of the dorms I lived in and grew a lot closer to them. To this day, we all remain really great friends.

2. Choosing my degrees.

Perhaps one of the more important things that I remembered through all this was the evolution of my degree from freshman to senior year. Coming into college, I had a pretty clear-cut idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to major in English with an emphasis on creative writing. Even back then, I knew that wouldn’t garner me much monetary support in the future, so for the longest time I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Unlike a lot of people who attend college, I never changed my major or the idea of my major a thousand times over. Instead, I looked for a way to make my major more viable to life after college. And that’s where I found my minor, technical writing. All it took was a little asking around between friends and advisors to find out what I really wanted to do.

3. Learning to move on.

The one thing that doesn’t have to do with college as a school, but with what I’ve learned from about myself while being there over three years, is the ability to move on. This can mean a variety of things, but in this instance it meant learning to accept the way things are and get on with my life. Not too long ago, I would get hung up on the fact that I would eventually have to part ways with people I was around almost every day. I didn’t like the idea of going separate ways; it gave me this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. But as time grew, so did I. I realized that while I won’t see my friends every single day, I’ll still see them. I can still be in contact with them. With my senior year finally underway, I have to think about me -- what I want to do, where I want to go. Right now, the most important thing that I can possibly worry about is myself and what I plan to do with my future.

I could go on and on about how I’ve changed over a span of three years. It feels really good to reflect in this way. It makes me feel like I’ve grown up a lot. So, to those seniors out there who are readying themselves for graduation with the passing of every day, keep at it. To the freshman who are just entering, while your college experience might not be exactly what you expect it to be, make the most out of it. You might just surprise yourself.