As this year comes to a close, I realize how fast it went. Granted, I had two months in the middle where I was home and did not have school, but the semesters went really fast and I feel like I just started this year. I have met many friends, I have done really cool things, and I think I have become a lot more grown up. I want to be able to remember how I felt throughout my first year because it will be a nice reminder that change is scary but necessary.

My first thoughts when even deciding to come to college were that I would not be able to make friends and I would get too homesick and I would regret it. Even throughout my first month or two I had these thoughts. It was really hard to adjust to a life away from home, but I knew that if I did not take the opportunity I would probably regret it and wonder what could have been for the rest of my life.

One highlight from this year is definitely making all my friends. While the year was going on, I felt really discouraged because I didn’t feel like I had made any progress and I was missing all my friends from back home. Now however, as the last days roll around, I think about all the people I am going to miss. I am going to miss all of my public discourse classmates (if you’re reading this, hi see you soon). We grew close over the semester and I know we will continue to be friendly towards each other in the coming years. I will also miss people I have done group projects with. As much as I dislike group projects, sometimes they help you find people you may have never encountered or talked to. I will obviously miss my roommate. Over the year we have become super close and these three months will be longer than expected. I would say I am going to miss my closest friends, but luckily for me we get to work together all summer so I won’t even get the chance!

Another highlight is all the cool opportunities I got this year that I will never forget. I got to listen to a Nobel Peace Prize winner speak, I went to a concert, I attended a big conference on reproduction, and I joined a program where I stepped into a role model position. This year has pushed me a lot both in classes and in overall life because I have had to become more independent. Many of these events and opportunities were optional, so it’s even a bigger accomplishment to think that I chose to do all of these cool things without it being a class requirement.

I should also remember some lows of the year because those are equally as important to reflect on moving forward. I quit a sports team almost immediately which I regret because they went on to be 4th in the nation. I also missed out on a lot of events in the beginning of the year because I was too nervous. I also skipped out on things because I was afraid of getting involved if I didn’t end up staying at this college.

Overall, this was a really great year with a lot of experiences, and I hope that I can read this later and remember and smile but also reflect and hopefully do more and learn from my own mistakes!