In the height of summer, we have reached the time where our memories are flooded back. College freshman are forced to reminisce on their past years as they watch current seniors graduate, reminding them of their own. Looking back on the previous year can be conflicting. On one hand, you have the joyous memories of old friends, feelings of accomplishment, and freedom. But despite these happy memories, there’s the more somber ones. The realization that old friends have lost touch, the fact that you still have no idea what you want to do for a living, and the anxiety that comes with the discovery that you are in fact growing up. Somehow, despite all the good, sometimes the sad can outweigh it all leaving you feeling a little out of sorts.

Sophomore slump or comeback year? That’s the question that haunts you as you see all the eager seniors graduating, ready to start their college careers; the same college career that you live. But through all these flashbacks of past senior years and experiences, it’s important to realize that you shouldn’t be looking in the past. The only way to look is forward. Despite the bad experiences you’ve had, the best thing to realize is that the future will only improve. Bad memories will be replaced by amazing ones. Along with this fear that the bad memories won’t go away, there is also the anxiety that nothing will be able to live up to the standards of your good memories. There is a constant fear that the amazing experiences you’ve had in the past will forever stay there; that none of your future experiences will be as good. This is something that you need to let go of. Good things fall apart so that better things can come together.

The best is yet to come, my friend, the future will bring nothing but happiness. Sure, there will be a couple of struggles in between. That is life. Life isn’t about smooth sailing. It is about using your past experiences and memories to guide you through the rough currents and allowing it to teach you how to avoid trouble. So if you are looking back on your year and realizing that things haven’t turned out the way you want or that you miss how things used to be, have no fear. You are growing, you are gaining experience, and you are falling into the person you are supposed to be. The world will soon be yours, have no fear.