If you ask me how my first year of college went, I will most likely respond: "Amazing, I love it at UF." Those are the words everyone wants to hear, and that is what everyone expects you to say. Coming to a new place with new people brings new experiences, and the ones I have experienced in my first year of college are endless.

Learning to live with and see the same people 24/7 has been an adjustment for us all. Typically, we were all used to seeing our friends during the school day, then going home to spend time with our families. In college, we eat, sleep, and breathe all day with our friends, no break. I want to shout out my friends I've made: thank you. Thank you for teaching me what a true friend is, acts like, and does for one another. Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on and being only a walk away when I need you. Thank you for spending time with me even when you had other things to do. Thank you for it all.

Here at UF, I have also come to realize that college is much more than textbooks. College made me realize that I need to work on time management and fitting all I need to do into a day. College isn't about spending your life in the library studying for your economics class. College is the time we spend in the library talking with the friends we made about the stuff going on in our lives no matter what it may be. College is talking about plans for the night the second we wake up and get out of bed. College is for making memories that will last us a lifetime.

"What's your major? What do you want to do after college?" are two questions I am asked at least three times a week. When I first started here, my answer was "I don't know." Luckily, I can now say that I do know. I have learned to be open-minded to all the opportunities and options that are in front of me. At first, I was unsure of anything and only wanted to do what I felt was "normal," but I have realized new things that I now enjoy which I never was open to in the past.

If there's one thing I have most definitely learned to realize, it is that things take time. Initially, I compared my freshman year of college experiences to my senior year of high schools ones. Big mistake. I was nervous that I didn't have as many friends, wasn't a part of as many clubs and activities and was unfamiliar with the place in which I was surrounded, but these things took time.

A thank you to my freshman year of college. With less than a month to go, I can confidently say I am comfortable with where I am, the people I have met and college is indeed amazing, and I love it here at UF.