It has reached the halfway point in summer, the time where I see numerous posts of excited students counting down the days until Rocky Top is their home. My halfway point in the summer means that I am halfway through my journey as an orientation leader. One important part of my position is answering questions about my freshman year and reflecting on what I wish I knew, or what I could have done better.

One of the things that I often find myself telling first-year students, is that it is okay to not succeed in all that you do. I am extremely close with my family, so moving 6 hours away from home was a huge adjustment. I remember being homesick, however, I did not want to fully admit that to anyone who asked, because I felt like I was failing because I had not fully adjusted to college.

I remember hating logging onto social media because I saw all of my friends living their best lives, while I just wanted to return home. After a few weeks of this, my parents gave me a huge reality check. They told me that I was growing up, and everything worth having would not come easy, and that they were not going to give in to me wanting to transfer back home.

It was tough love at its finest, but I am so glad that they did that. If I had transferred I would not have met my roommate, who has become one of my best friends, and also I would not have had the opportunity to become an orientation leader and have the experience that I have now. So to my freshman self, I want to say that it is okay to not be successful and thriving the second your parents drop you off in front of the TREC.

It is okay to be homesick, but what is not okay is for you to measure your success based off of someone else's failures. There will be opportunities and blessings with your name on it, but there will also be times where God will say "not right now". Remember that when God says "not right now," He has something ah-mazing in store for your life. This journey is exclusively for you and what is meant will be. You are not defined by what you did wrong, but how you picked yourself up and decided to become the best version of yourself.