Freshman year is known as the social year. Since it’s a new school with new people, we all go through that phase of making friends with every person we meet. Even though those one-day friendships fizzle out, you find a way to continuously say “Hi” to them every time they pass by on campus. Even the dorms are social! My freshman year, I lived in an outside hall so it was hard to avoid seeing people once my foot stepped outside my door. There were moments when my friends and I would even get paranoid to do laundry or get water across the hall because there was a chance that we would run into the cute guy a few doors down. Music would constantly play in the courtyard, every door was wide open, and your neighbours were never a stranger. Even though freshman year had its ups and downs, I do miss it all.
When I started my sophomore year, I did not know what to expect. It was obvious that I wouldn’t be living with all of my neighbours from my freshman dorm, but I would still see them around… right? Wrong. I no longer saw the cute guy across my hall when I left for my classes. The person I met from a freshman event last year does not make eye contact with me when I see them around campus. All those fizzled friendships, social encounters, and sleepless nights start to become a memory. But it’s not until you take a step back and remember all the countless memories throughout your freshman year, that you realize how far we have all come already.
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The weird part about being a sophomore is coming to the realization that college is real now. I’m not going to lie, my whole freshman year I felt like I was away at a summer camp. Now that the social part is stripped from my college career it finally hit me that I am in college college. This means classes start to get real and you truly find out who your closest friends are. You find the ones who care for you and make time for you, and you hold onto them. You stop wishing for Friday to come faster and you start to enjoy every moment of your college experience with the ones who matter the most. Finding out how to juggle your career choices, jobs, friendships, and family all at once becomes a real struggle. However, once you get the hang of it, you realize how much you truly have grown. Growing up is scary and full of changes but so far I am learning that it’s all about our reaction to these harsh changes that can get us through life.
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No one said college was going to be easy. There will be times when all we want to do is give up. Even though I am going through sophomore slump as of right now, I am learning to cherish moments with the ones who matter the most. I hope that whatever you are going through, you see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.