Before my mom and I departed for Davidson back in August, my grandmother offered me some parting advice. Her sophomore year in college, she slumped hard, getting herself on academic probation for her bad grades, but she worked hard and got off probation so she was able to stay at her college. However, her goodbye to me wasn’t the talk about the importance of academics or studying hard that I’d expected. Instead, she told me simply to “have fun and fall in love,” which, for anyone who knows my grandmother, is very out of character.
Now, only a month into school, I can see why she chose that as her advice. I’ve had my fair share of fun and fallen in love with this place and my friends all over again (maybe not what she meant, but still). It seems now that everything else (i.e. good grades) will follow. I know who my friends are. I know that if I stay in to do work instead of going out with them on a school night, they aren’t going anywhere. I’m taking classes in things that I’m actually interested in, not just fulfilling graduation requirements (mostly). And I feel like everything I do, I’m doing for myself because it makes me happy. Just like this gif:
So is the sophomore slump a real thing? Right now I’m tempted to say no, but I’m currently sophomore, it’s also just the first month of school and I haven’t gotten my first math review back… But why would I write retrospectively when I can live the advice I’d like to offer to you all?
1. Own who you are. Chances are, you have a pretty good sense of self by now. But chances are also that your sense of self changes daily, if not hourly, if not minutely. And that’s okay. Everyone around you is changing too, and you just need to remember that. Make some new friends. Get closer with the old ones. Just remember that it is not your friends that matter, it is the friendships that you share with your friends.
2. Don’t let your new sophomority go to your head. Just because you are settled into Davidson and feel confident in your position in life does not mean you can be mean or condescending, not that you ever would be. As sophomores, we have the opportunity to be role models in the community, and while we should certainly make the most of our leadership, good leaders are uplifting and caring, not concerned with status. With that being said, I move onto my next point:
3. Freshmen are the shit. I’ll admit: I was nervous about not being a freshman anymore. It seemed that at eighteen, we were in the prime of our lives. We were fresh and new, and especially at a school like Davidson where it seems the student body gets smaller and smaller every day, we were welcome new friends, girlfriends, hookups, or teammates to the upperclassmen. And so I, along with many other sophomore girls I’ve spoken with on the matter, was nervous about not being a freshman, and about having a new group of girls be the fresh and new collegiettes of attention. But then I think about how much I looked up to the sophomore girls last year and how large a part they played in making my freshman year as special as it was, and that reminds me that I want them to have that too, and so I want to be the best I can be.
4. Take shots. Shots on goal, shots called on a project, shawty shotgun, shots of you and your friends, shots of vodka, I really don’t care what kind of shots you take. But take them. Put yourself out there and try something new, take risks, trust yourself with a leadership position, finally talk to your unicorn, let it all go on the weekends. You have absolutely nothing to loose. Trust me on that.
5. Lastly, remember the power of optimism. We all have those days where we just a hug from mom, a Gossip Girl marathon in bed, and some chocolate. Those days when finishing your work seems comparable to summiting Mount Everest, those days when you feel alone or in a funk: we all have them. But we, collegiettes, are all in this together, and optimism and happiness are contagious. If you keep a positive outlook on life, those surrounding you will follow suit. And this could be our best year ever.
And here’s another gif that makes me happy: