This time last year, I was getting ready to graduate high school. My inbox was flooded with emails titled “Welcome to College!” I was saying goodbye to the people I had spent four years growing up with and wondering how different my life would look in just a year.
Now, I’m getting ready to finish my freshman year of college. My inbox is flooded again. This time with reminders like “10 Days Left Until Finals!” I’m preparing to reunite with friends coming home from the different states where they went away to school. Life is completely different now. And so am I.
My whole life, I’ve been afraid of change. When I started college, that fear was overwhelming. Everything was unfamiliar — driving myself to campus, walking into classrooms filled with unfamiliar faces, navigating a new environment without a clear map. For a long time, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing.
But slowly, things started to shift. My classes turned out to be some of the most engaging and inspiring ones I’ve ever taken. The professors were passionate about their subjects and genuinely cared about their students’ success. Academically, I excelled, and, for the first time in a long time, I felt truly fulfilled in the classroom.
Still, something was missing.
In high school, I had found a sense of belonging through writing — four years on the school newspaper, three years before that in middle school. Writing has always been part of who I am. I missed having a community where I could share my ideas, tell stories and express myself. That’s when I found Her Campus. Joining this organization completely transformed my freshman year. It pushed me to branch out in ways I never had before and gave me the sense of community I had been searching for.
As this academic year comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned. One of the biggest? Everything will work out on its own. You don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself to join everything or be everywhere. Give yourself time to adjust, grow and figure out what makes you feel fulfilled. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, even if it doesn’t feel like it right away.
So, here is to my freshman year. Thank you for challenging me, for pushing me out of my comfort zone and for showing me just how much I’m capable of. You taught me that change isn’t something to be feared, but something to embrace. I’ll always look back at this year as the time where I didn’t just start college but I started becoming who I’m meant to be. I can’t wait to see where next year brings me.