When the New Year comes around, most people make New Year's resolutions to live a better life than they currently have. For me, I've had an extremely rough 2018. From college to relationships, I have endured many ups and downs. The beginning of my sophomore semester this fall led me down a scary path, dealing with depression and anxiety, enough to need professional assistance. However, as the semester continued, my life got better… and better.... and better.

Since my battle with my anxiety, things fell into place. I joined Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity on University of Delaware's campus. Within this organization, our main goal is to help those in our community. Along with service, I made tons of new friends, many who have helped guide me towards a path to a better life. With these new friends, I have remained close with some of my most important friends from my freshman year. College students are often scared that friendships will fade as they make new ones, yet I am grateful of my best friends, who I know will always be there for me when I need them, and vice versa. And most importantly, I finally met someone who cares for me more than I had ever fathomed. If you are reading this, just know how thankful I am to have you in my life, and you were exactly the jump start to my life that I needed.

A year ago, I set out to give myself a better life. And as we enter 2019, I only want one thing… the same life and same confidence that I gained throughout this past year. I don't need any extrinsic motivation to make things better. My entire life, my confidence has been derived from parents, teachers, friends, and random strangers. Their judgements have forced me to become something that is and will never be my true self.. I've learned during my rough journey that one can not have a truly exceptional life until they learn self-care, self-love, and self-confidence.

I am really looking forward to what 2019 has in store for me.