It’s time to say goodbye to your little shoebox: the one you call home.

Goodbye to all the late night talks with your roommate about anything and everything. She knew exactly what you were going through, because y'all were taking on these new experiences at the same time, and she was your person.

Goodbye to the banging on your door everyday from your friends who live across the hall, waking you up because they need a charger, or maybe because they’re just bored.

Goodbye to the crappy meal plan you and all your friends complained about, but you kind of liked it because y'all were all on the same page about how crappy it was.

You had so many firsts. You left your little nest and experienced a whole new world.

A world of ups, and downs.

The times where you entered your first college party, in complete shock of a whole new experience. You’re dancing like a maniac with your friends while screaming to the song “Mr. Brightside” when you look around and think:

wow….this is college.

The times when you went exploring at 10 o’clock on a Monday night and drove around listening to music and stopping at anything that looked remotely fascinating, just because you could.

The times where you’re sitting in class and your favorite professor is filling your brain with something that is so intriguing and interesting to you, you can’t get enough. And then it clicks, it clicks that you could see yourself involved in this for the rest of your life.

But then, again, who knows, because we're little fishes, and our paths are not yet set in stone.

And then, along with the roller coaster of your very first year in college, you had some downs.

the stomach dropping, anxiety-provoking, terrifying downs.

There were the times when you had three exams the next day, your boy toy turned out to be just exactly that, and you feel like you’re losing control.

The ironic thing is, the downs don’t typically come in pieces. They tend to come full force, all at once.

There were the times where you were just sitting in your dorm crying from the stress, whether a test grade, a breakup, or just a mental breakdown over what the heck you’re doing in your life.

Your friends are wiping your tears and feeding you ice-cream. It hurts. It really hurts.

But beyond the pain and the confusion, you gulp for a breath through your tears, and that breath fills you with an ounce of hope. A feeling that it is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.

And then it is.

Our first year. We have gathered strength, knowledge, and new experiences. We are changed, we have grown, and we have blossomed.

We took these new experiences, our battles, and our peaks, and made them a part of us.

And now we have to say goodbye.

To my freshman year. You have given me so many memories that I will always hold dear to my heart, memories that helped me grow and prosper as a person. That changed me for the better.

You have opened my mind and matured me. You have nurtured my brain with so many interesting ideas, concepts, and perceptions that make me want to learn more and more.

You have given me the best of friends. Friends that I know have my back through all the ups and downs, and friends that I know will love me even on the days where I don’t love myself.

Freshmen year, it’s been one hell of a ride.