In 27 days, I will officially be done with my freshman year at the University of New Hampshire. Wow, even formulating that thought into a sentence is really difficult for me to process. How on Earth is this year already over? I feel like I just began my second semester. In many ways, I’m thankful that this year is over. Transitioning from being remote in my room to having in-person classes proved to be quite the challenge for many college students like me. I felt like I was in for a rude awakening. Not only that, after being cooped-up in my home for almost a year and a half, I had achieved a closer relationship with my family, and the thought of moving out of my home into a foreign environment made my stomach churn. Reflecting back, I wish I could tell my past-self that I would be seeing them almost every Sunday for the entirety of first semester, and that everything was going to be okay.
During the first semester, I was a declared Neuroscience and Behavior major. When I was still in high school, I thought that this particular major was perfect for me, since I was interested in becoming a child therapist in the future once undergrad was over. However, the minute that I realized that I would be taking four years worth of general chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, and even genetics, I knew that I was no longer interested in pursuing this path. This led to another stress of mine. I had no idea where I wanted to go, and choosing a new major seemed like a stressful process. Luckily I was fortunate enough to have an amazing advisor, who helped me pick out not one, but two majors that would be catering to my interests more. For the duration of second semester, I have been taking classes that are helping me to declare a Psychology major, and I just recently declared that I will also be dual majoring in Justice Studies in hopes of attending law school in the future!
Although I am thankful that this stressful time is over, at times I feel a little sad that I have to leave for the summer. As challenging as the schoolwork may be, I was lucky enough to make some of the best friends I could ask for. They’ve stuck with me since the first weekend we moved in, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I was also lucky enough to live with one of the best roommates I could’ve asked for. Although we discussed being roommates on Instagram way back in April of 2021, I never imagined I would be so close with someone. She truly is my best friend, and has made this transition to college a lot easier. Being away from her and my friends here is absolutely gut-wrenching to think about. Don’t get me wrong, I love my hometown friends, but the people here have been with me for almost 9 months, and just leaving them like that is extremely upsetting. Although several of them live close, it won’t be the same having them only a few floors away from me. It will be hard to adjust back to my old life, but I’m confident that I will be able to do it!
Overall, I would say that my freshman year of college went extremely well. Beyond my expectations in fact. I would have never imagined that I would change my major, move away from home, and make amazing friends with such ease. It breaks my heart when I hear other people say that their time here has been horrible. I wish that everyone would be able to experience what I did, and I hope that as well for all of the incoming freshman next year. My biggest piece of advice? Do whatever is best for you! You’re having a bad mental health day? Then take the time to take care of yourself, give yourself a little extra attention! You absolutely deserve it. Transitioning to college is not only a major milestone, but also a major hardship as well. It’s important to focus on what will benefit you the most in every moment.