Dear old Katie, you have learned so many things in your first semester of college, some life-changing and some tiny details that have no effect on your life. You will learn to love where you are and the major you have chosen. You will feel loneliness for the first time, but then you will learn how to fix it. You will learn to advocate for yourself, which you have never had to do before. Even though you feel it will not be better, it will be better.
You are going to find those friends that you have been waiting to meet. These friends will not judge you or bring you down. You will find contentment with these people. These people hold your deepest desires and secrets, and you are not scared of that. You love “family” pasta dinners on Sunday before chapter where your friends talk about what they did over the weekends. You love sweet little treats with your sweet little friends. You miss the simplicity of your old life, but also you love the newness that this life has brought you.
You soon realize that not everyone hates you, but they actually love you. You will find that you rely on your parents more than you thought you would, and you miss them even though you are just 20 minutes away from home.
You miss the ability to lay on a couch, and you miss the days that you did not have to climb a ladder to lay in bed. You love to learn anatomy even though it gives you pain and keeps you up way too late. You still cannot believe that you are actually in college, and I don’t think you ever will.
Life doesn’t stop for those who wait around; you are the only one who can convince yourself to get out and explore the world. Life will throw curveballs at you, but with the right people, you will get through it. Football games are overrated, but getting ready and taking pictures with friends makes them worth it.
Some goals I have completed are going to the gym, which happened not just once but twice, and not skipping class, which I have not done once. I also vowed to try new things, and one of the new things I have tried is joining Her Campus. Writing for Her Campus has allowed me to have a creative outlet to express whatever my heart desires. By attending biweekly meetings, I get to meet girls who are different from me and teach me so many things.
Don’t ever change who you are, but if you do change, change for the better. Learn to love every minute because time goes by way too fast.