I spent months preparing for the start of my college career. I watched YouTube videos and TikToks, bought everything you could possibly need for a dorm, and mentally prepared myself to leave home and live on my own surrounded by strangers. I thought that was going to be my biggest worry, and that I wouldn’t make many new friends. But nothing could have prepared me for the feeling of the last week of Freshman year and leaving my dorm room that I’ve been calling home and my new friend group that has started to feel like family.
It feels a little bit like graduating high school and moving across the country from all of your lifelong friends, but it’s going to take time to adjust to because many people spend the majority of their time in college surrounded by their friends. For me, there was almost never a time where I was alone. I got lucky and made some of the best friends I’ve ever had shortly after moving in, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. I never thought I’d be so lucky to have met people I clicked with so easily, but fate put us together on the same dorm floor. I wouldn’t trade my college friends for the world.
Getting ready to go home for the summer is sad, not because I’ll never see my friends again (I will, very soon), but because it feels like finishing a chapter in a book I really, really loved. And if that chapter ended so quickly, that means the rest of the book will be wrapping up before I know it, too.
This is your reminder to never take any moment for granted. Next semester, no matter where you’re living, and no matter how many annoyances there may be, remember that one day you’ll be upset that you can no longer visit the place where some of your best memories were made. Try to say “yes” to more plans. It’s going to be difficult when you’re miles away from your friends instead of steps down the hall. So make the most of the time you do have together.
To incoming freshmen, you’re about to have the time of your life. You may have times where you wish it was over, or you just want a break, but try to focus on the good. You might think to yourself that there’s unlimited time – four years does sound like a while. But it’s going to start flying by before you even really get started. Say yes to going out, walking into town, and studying with friends instead of by yourself. Every second counts towards your memories.