This one goes out to the seniors who are about to graduate, and are now looking back at where they started!
Four years seems like a long time, but now look at us.
We are a few weeks from graduating.
We are almost “real” adults in this “real world” everyone is always telling us about.
Where did the time go?
Here are a few ways your mental, physical, and emotional wellness has developed throughout your collegiate years.
Body
On paper 18-22 doesn’t seem like a huge jump, but when you think back to how you looked your freshman year compared to how you look now, the results are probably shocking. Not only could you have gained or lost some weight, but your face probably looks older now.
You don’t look like the nervous teenager who started college; you look like a confident adult who is ready to take on the world.
You go older looking you!
Outlook on Life
Most of us started out as generally unappreciative youngsters our freshmen year.
But college has opened our eyes, and now we (should be) able to see how great we actually have it. Gone are the days of teenage angst when a bad day meant that your crush didn’t text you. Now you have a whole new prospective.
You have learned and experienced things that make you thankful just to be able to have an education, and to have clean water and a safe place to sleep. You probably don’t even know what an actual “bad” day is like, which is wonderful!
Now that our lives seem to hold more meaning we can appreciate the good little things more and worry about the bad little things less.
Maturity Level
Whether you came to college still loving the Jonas Brothers, or came to college ready to party, odds are those are not still your passions in life.
Something crazy happened in the past four years.
You learned things, you developed real opinions, and you became passionate about something. You figured out that life is bigger than the screen on your iPhone, and found real purpose in your actions.
So, even if you still have the Jonas Brother’s CD in your car for a rainy day or still like to have some fun on the weekends, you’ve grown as a person.
Personal Taste
People always say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that can be true.
Think about it.
You could have seen a painting in your sophomore humanities class and found it to be the poorest excuse for art you have ever seen, but now are studying the same work in a class your senior year and find it appealing.
Maybe your favorite color has changed from orange to yellow.
Maybe you have a different style.
You could even love foods that before you never even would have tried.
The point is, through our experiences and education, we have changed.
Change is good.
Priorities
Priorities…some people have them, some people don’t.
Either way, those have changed too.
Once you thought the most important thing in life was seeing the next episode of PLL the night it aired, but now those senior projects are taking the front seat.
You have jobs to apply for and countless other actual responsibilities to get to.
You have adult priorities now, and that’s exciting!
Share your favorite flashback photo or memory from your freshman year with us on twitter @HerCampusWVWC!