It is crazy to think that my freshman year of college is coming to an end. Part of me wishes I could rewind. It feels good coming to an end with certain classes and stressors, but the other part of me didn’t realize what I had until now, as everything is winding down. I think of all of the friendships that blossomed from this year, and even with all of the rough patches of the year, I wouldn’t change a thing. Every path, every decision I made led me here. I am incredibly grateful for the memories I’ve made over the past year. In thinking about the past year, many memories come flooding back.

I met some of my best friends this year, and I have so many memories with them, both big and small. From flying out to California to go to the PlayStation Experience to sitting in their room playing Rainbow Six Siege, I have so many memories to be thankful for. I’ve also had some great instructors too, and they inspire and encourage me to do bright and bold things with my future. From crazy stories to life advice, some instructors really impacted my life. That’s what I love about UNI, is that I feel like every relationship I’ve established over the past ten months has been meaningful and has truly impacted me as a person. I really can’t think of any bad memories, because each one has been a learning experience and has helped me grow as a person. I’ve learned so much this year, and I’ve done a lot of growing up. Everything has been a learning experience, and it is super stressing at times, but I love the person I’m becoming from all of it.

As I was thinking about now compared to then, I remember getting dinner one night with my now best friend. We were both coming back late from helping our families at home in the field, but it is weird to think about how different, yet similar, things are now from then. The beginning of this year had such an innocence to it, and I never realized how genuinely happy I became throughout this past year. Most people let this past happiness scare them, and I am guilty of that too. There are those doubts of, “What if nothing compares to this? What if that was it?” Most of the time, I like to be optimistic with it. What can that opportunity lead to have happen in the future? In life, we’re building off of past experiences to lay the foundation for a bright future. So many of our actions are driven by the intent to make our future better. That’s great, and that is what I want to do with my life, but other times I know there is only so much I can do. It is much more important to enjoy the present then to worry about setting up the perfect future. If you’re always trying to make a better tomorrow, you’ll never be able to enjoy today. At that point, there is no reason to keep building for your future if you won’t enjoy what you’ve been working so hard for. That is what I want to do with my summer, because I have the time to. I want to visit college friends in their hometown and make new memories with my old friends. I want to enjoy the relationships I’ve built up this point, and I want to just be happy without having to worry about anything else.

Summer is going to be great. I’ll be able to reflect on everything I’ve learned and take an appreciative step back from everything that has happened over the past year. I believe breaks are important because they give you an appreciation for how much friendships and memories mean to you. Regardless of how great summer is, I know when college rolls back around in August, I’ll be excited to see my best friends and start up my sophomore year.