Freshman year is sold to you as the best year of your life, which is a lot of pressure to put on eight months. Mine had some really low lows and some genuinely unbelievable highs, sometimes in the same week. What I didn’t expect was how much I’d learn, not from classes, but from the weird, inconvenient, occasionally chaotic moments in between. These are a few of those moments, and what they taught me.
Lessons in championship wins
During the National Championship basketball game, my friends and I had decided to join the hundreds of other Wolverines camping outside of the Brown Jug to watch the game. My 10:00 AM arrival wasn’t even early considering the amount of students that decided to sleep outside on the streets that night. I had a quesadilla, my people, and a corner on the floor of the bar. I was determined. This was the plan, and I was executing it. Then, after sitting there all day, an hour before tip off, my friend offered me a free ticket to the game. For a second I hesitated, I had been there all day. I was comfortable. There was a version of me that said, “no, I’m already here,” and honestly, that version wouldn’t have been wrong. But, the other version of me was thinking, “What if we win? I would be devastated to miss an opportunity like this.” So instead, I ran out of Brown Jug, packed a bag, and drove 4 hours to Indiana. I watched us win the National Championship in the stadium. That moment will stick with me forever. Not because of the final score, but because of what almost didn’t happen. Freshman year is full of those moments: invitations at inconvenient times, opportunities that interrupt what you already had going on. The best thing that happened to me this year were almost all things I said yes to at the last second. So stay open: Sometimes, you just have to get in the car.Â
Lessons in honesty
During my first semester, I didn’t have the easiest time making friends. I had tons of people from high school, my roommate who I loved very much and an amazing sister, but not a huge “friend group.” In the second semester of freshman year, I joined the sorority Chi Omega, and was so excited to make new friends. Rush was so overwhelming and I was grateful for it to just be over. In my mind, bid day would come, and I would instantly have life long friends. However, bid day finally came and I was overwhelmed with meeting new people, finding a big sister, and was exhausted from the rush. In the weeks coming, we were paired with several sophomores in the sorority to search for our big sisters. I made plans with my sophomore pair of the week, Sage, to meet for sushi at Sadako. I had called my mom crying several times that day because of how overwhelmed I was and this dinner was probably the last thing I wanted to do that night. I sat down and Sage asked me the dreaded “how are you?” question. Usually, I would lie, smile and say “great, how are you?”. But instead I kind of lost it. I explained to her how tired I was, how the social events this weekend were stressing me out, and how I just wanted to go home. Instead of giving me a weird look, she said the greatest words I could have heard at that moment: “You totally should go home. This time last year I was so overwhelmed, I flew home to New York just for a weekend with my mom. I totally get it.” Those were the words I needed to hear. Had I lied and told her I was doing great, I never would have received the validation I needed so much. My lesson from this story is not to go home every weekend. I truly believe you find your community in a place like this by sticking it out most of the time. But, by being honest and taking advice from those around you, you can find a balance and time to reset for yourself.Â
This year, I have learned so many lessons from moments I least expected, and I hope you take the time to reflect on what you learned too. College is such a transformative time in your life, so soak up every moment, because I’m somehow already 25% done, and it’s moving so fast.