Dear Freshmen,
You are almost halfway done with your first year of college! How does it feel?
The first semester of freshman year can be difficult, even for people who feel as though they’ve already found their niche. Adjusting to the responsibility of taking care of yourself, living in close quarters with other people, and managing the stress of finals week can be a lot to handle. Yet here you are, done with all of your first semester classes and almost ready to go home. Some of you may have had an amazing semester; meeting new people, taking exciting classes, and enjoying the freedom that comes with being a college student. For others, first semester can be extremely difficult. I personally had a love/hate relationship with my own first semester of college, and I remember feeling like I was starting to finally figure it all out as I went home for winter break.
Newsflash: I was not.
First semester freshman year is the trial run of college. It is the rough draft, the run-through, the scrimmage. You are getting to know a new environment, trying to find people with which you can connect, and exploring educational disciplines. You may have your heart set on a specific major, then come back in January and take a class that changes everything. I am a sophomore and I took two classes in new departments this year that may have changed the entire course of my college career. I am friends with people I didn’t know last year, and I am no longer friends with people I thought would be there for the long run.
No matter how you feel about what you have done thus far as a college student, you should be proud of yourself for tackling such an enormous life change. Once you take your last exam and hand in all of your final papers, you will be halfway done with freshman year. One eighth of the way done with college. If you can get through this, you can do anything.
Be open to the possibility that things may change next semester, and your college experience could evolve into something completely different. It could also stay pretty much the same, in which case you’re that much closer to figuring it all out.
End 2017 with an open mind, and be ready to come back in 2018 prepared for all that lies ahead.