The cliché goes something like this: "It seemed like it was only yesterday that I was moving into my college dorm and I said goodbye to my parents." We've all been there, we've all said it, and we all remember that feeling. The bittersweet feeling of uncertainty that the next four years of our lives would bring. Sure, people will admit that they had no ounce of fear in them but that was probably a lie. All anyone wanted to do was make those friends that everyone says last a lifetime, figure out where their classes were on a huge campus, not fall victim to the freshman 15, and to figure out who they wanted to be. Three years into it, I can say that I have overcome and discovered a lot about myself, but the journey is not completely over yet.
Junior year of college is seen as "the year of irrelevancy", as my friends and I like to joke, But honestly, it is not that far off from the truth. In terms of getting the amazing opportunity to go abroad, it is definitely not irrelevant as you are getting to travel some of the most amazing parts of the world while the rest of us hope and pray for warm weather in the tundra of Syracuse. But for people who did not get the opportunity to go abroad, it is kind of boring. It feels like a huge chunk of all your friends are gone and nothing exciting really seems to happen.
As a freshman, everything is so new and it is great! Your parents aren't here to boss you around, you can eat whatever you want, you are making new friends, and the coolest thing is that you get the opportunity to rush and potentially gain 200+ more sisters to rely on. Going through rush as a freshman is scary, but it is also such an exciting experience of making friends in your rush group to the girl from that one house that you bonded over your Ryan Gosling obsession with. Then the pledging process begins and you instantly become close with the girls who go on this journey with you. You get a big who becomes more than just your mentor, but your best friend who you can share everything with. You are the baby of the family who does not have a lot of "real" responsibilities and it's great.
Sophomore year rolls around and you find out that the "sophomore slump" is a real thing and it sucks. You are knee deep in school work and all the activities you signed up for the last year and you have no idea how you are going to make it through the year. But another year of recruitment rolls around and you gain more sisters and in that bunch of eager new members is your little. You shed blood, sweat, and tears (literally) over making your little the perfect basket to show her how much you love her, even though you barely know her. But that's the excitement of the whole process: knowing that you are about to gain another lifelong friend who you can show the ropes to.
Then comes junior year. You are more than excited to be back on campus because you have finally found your place. You've established who your lifelong friends will be and now that you are halfway done with school, you can actually take the classes you want to take and not the stupid requirements for your major. Spring semester will roll around and your little will get her own perfect little and you are not sure how you feel about it until you meet the new little nugget and realize how perfect she is. You also begin to apply for internships and have professional interviews, which gives you a little taste of what the real world is going to be like when you begin looking for a real person job in about a year (yikes).
Before you know it, it is senior year. Obviously, I really cannot speak to this since I am not officially there yet, but I can only imagine how it will feel. It will be a year full of trying to accomplish every possible detail on your bucket list, making those crazy memories with your friends that you will never forget, having a blow off schedule, and yes, finding that real paying job. It's scary to know that I am almost there, but I am ready to take it on and turn "irrelevant" into "relevant."
