Freshman year of college is a very important and life-changing time for everyone at this point. You have either made some place your new home or you are still working hard to get to where you want to be, but either way, life from how it was a year ago is much different from how it is now. With this school year coming to an end, I started to reflect on the many changes and new things that have come my way in the past nine months and I have realized that so many things have happened, but ultimately this is what I have taken away from it:

You grow up a lot: You are most definitely not the same person that you were when you started this school year. You have found your place and really found where you are supposed to be and if not, you have learned what needs to change. You have to become more independent; even if you are in the same city you grew up in or are still living with your parents, you realize college is much different that anything that you have done before.

You forget to stay in touch with everyone: You are going to meet so many new people, but you don't want to forget about all the friends that you have from high school and your hometown. You'll say that y'all will FaceTime every night and keep up with each other and it seems like it's going to be really easy, but in reality, it's like the hardest thing ever. Having to find time that you are all free and can actually talk is very rare, even when it comes to people who go to the same school and even live in the same dorm as you.

You find the people who are really important to you: Because so many people do grow apart, you find that you really only stay tight with a hand full of people and actually find yourself becoming better friends than you ever were before. They are the ones who say let's catch up and actually mean it and will make time to see you when you are all back in town together. Sometimes distance can make a friendship even better because you aren't seeing each other every day like you did in high school.

You have your priorities straight (kinda): After almost two semesters now, you know how much effort it really takes to be able to get an A on that test or to really nail that English presentation, and you have figured out how to balanced your friends, extracurricular and being able to get good grades all at once. You also figure out how tempting it is to go out and get Whataburger at 3 in the morning, but really shouldn't because you have an 8 a.m. the next morning that you know you won't wake up for if you do.

You realize how important family is: Being four hours away from my whole family and my dogs has taken a toll on me this semester, so I've learned that when I do go home, I know who to spend my time with and how much I really miss goofing off with my parents and running around the house with my dogs. All in all, I have learned a lot in this past year, and I will keep all of it in mind for the rest of my college career and most likely my life.