Whenever you hear people talk about their college experience, it is so rare to hear people talk about how special sophomore year truly is. You hear stories about all of the firsts that come with being a freshman: your first move in day, your first day of classes, your first party, your first friend. You hear about how monumental junior year is in career development from internships to interviews and everything in between. Senior year is full of stories of your greatest last moments in a place that you were lucky enough to call home for four whole years. As a sophomore, you are only 20 years old - somewhere between being a teenager and an adult. It's an awkward stage for a lot of people in their experience growing up, and it becomes the year in college that goes unnoticed.

For me, sophomore year changed my whole life. In the "forgotten year" of college I was given the most unforgettable year of my life. I began the year with low expectations, because my freshman year was mediocre at best. With an unlikely chain of events it only took me a few weeks to connect with people that I can now look back and say they were the reason that my sophomore year was as influential as it was.

The people you surround yourself with make the greatest impact on your life. These people have the capabilities of building you up to be the best version of yourself, or holding you back from your potential. My whole life I mainly surrounded myself with people that were more concerned with their own wellbeing and success than others. My sophomore year gave me friends that want to see me succeed, and want to see me happy. I have a new form of love, and support this past year that has been so influential. I can genuinely say I have never felt happiness like this before, and COVID-19 took away my source of this happiness.

So, to the people that took my life and turned it into something I was so excited to tell the world about - thank you. Thank you for the 4 am nights having life conversations about the best baby names, and all of our dreams for the future. Thank you for all of the Disney sing-alongs and allowing me to play the lead, letting me live out my DIsney dreams in our very own college town. Thank you for being my tutors, my chauffeurs, and my therapists. Thank you for the funniest car rides of my life. Thank you for being my adventure buddies, even if it is just down the street to Cumberland's for late night ice cream. Thank you for being my favorite duet partners, dance partners, food reviewers, and everything in between. Thank you for supporting all of my decisions no matter how toxic they have been, and being by my side when I get my heart broken, or make a fool of myself. Thank you for dancing the night away in the frat basement weekend, after weekend because that is the only place I ever wanted to be. Thank you for letting me be my full authentic self and showing me love no matter how crazy, clingy, or annoying I can get, Without the laughs, and all of the support you have given me I truly don't think I would be the person I am today. Thank you for being my family.

It is so hard to let all of this go with little time to prepare for the road ahead. How are we expected to go from living a life of excitement and bliss to zoom classes and social isolation? It is so difficult to cope with this change without the support system we have built up back at school, or even the childhood friends in our hometown. So, we are forced to rely on our families for support in this changing time, although it is such a hard concept to connect with with such a generational difference. To them, it seems like I have an opportunity to spend more time at home with my family. To them I am simply saying see you later to some people I have fun with on the weekends. To me it is so much more than that. UMASS Amherst has become home. There is no way to describe to someone how a sorority house is more than a place to sleep, but a second home where I can find people who are consistently excited to see me, and put a smile on my face. It is not easy to understand that a fraternity house is more than a place to party on weekends, but a place where I have met the most amazing people, and created the most amazing memories with my best friends.

Sophomore year has taught me so much about myself whether that be the importance of friendship, or the power of strength. These friends that I have had to say goodbye to have showed me how to be strong in times of pain and uncertainty. I have faced more heartbreak, and been challenged more than ever in the past year, but the positivity and independence I have found through the support of my friends has shown me I am resilient enough to get through anything that is thrown my way. Now that I am on the other side of all of my previous hardships I am truly proud of the person I have become.

Sophomore year has given me the confidence to go after what I want, and to be myself no matter the circumstance. A year ago I was shy, and would go with the flow in order to make people like me. I would have never imagined myself holding a leadership position on my sorority's executive council. All it took was a group of people to believe in me, for me to start believing in myself too. Now, I am at the end of my sophomore year completing my education online with big aspirations for my future. Those dreams don't scare me so much anymore, because I know with the right people by my side, a lot of hard work, and a little faith in myself I truly can do anything.

Without my sophomore year I may still have been the anxious girl who never would take a risk to try and better herself that I was last year. I would still be living under the security blanket that failing relationships and past experiences provided for me because it was comfortable, or safe. There aren't words that are powerful enough to demonstrate my gratitude for what the last year has meant to me. Although I wish COVID-19 never had to take away the remaining part of the best year of my life thus far, I am so grateful for the parts of my sophomore year that I was lucky enough to experience. The coronavirus may have taken away a piece of my college experience, but I will still always remember this as the best year thanks to the most amazing people UMASS has given me. Knowing I have something so amazing to return back to someday soon makes the goodbye bittersweet, and I miss it everyday until I can have it all back. But until then, thank you.

Sincerely,

Sophomore Year Me