What I've Learned From My First Semester of College

 Hello! :)

As I am writing this, my first semester of college is, sadly, coming to a close in just over a week. Surprisingly, though, I have a lot of free time these days. My friends all live in different dorms and my roommate is currently in quarantine (don't worry, neither of us has corona), so it leaves me with a lot of time to myself. 

In between watching K-dramas, scrolling endlessly through TikTok, and having solo dance parties in my dorm, I've thought a lot about my first semester of college.

College so far has been both a blessing and a curse. A lot of things have happened to me since I arrived, many of which I've learned some hard lessons from. With that being said, I wanted to share a few of the things I've learned in hopes of inspiring someone who reads this or maybe helping any fellow college freshman realize they are not alone.

1. First, I've learned your problems will not go away in a new place, but a new place can give you a better mindset to deal with those problems. 

My expectations for college were *very* high. I thought that a new place, a new start, and so much freedom would be the cure for the struggles in my mind. And at first, the high of starting college made me forget about a lot of them. But like any high, that's all it does: allows you to temporarily forget. So, when things settled down, I found many frustrations I felt before starting college still haunted me here. 

But as time went on, I noticed being in a fresh environment did make everything a little bit easier to deal with. I realized in the grand scheme of things, the problems in my mind aren't so serious as I thought they were. When you're in high school, subjected to the same monotonous routine and small bubble of people, it's easy to forget the rest of the world is out there. Everything seems like a huge deal, even things that shouldn't be. College gives you a fresh perspective. 

2. Second, you really need to stop giving two shits what other people think and start being your own person.

"Just be yourself!"

It's something I hear over and over from other people, but have struggled to put into practice myself. I thought when I was in college (away from the local judgement that comes with growing up in a small suburban town) I would be able to be more myself. To an extent, I have been. However, it's not something you can change overnight. It's something that takes time, but I think being in college is helping me get there.

In the same breath, meeting so many interesting and new people helps with this too. It's inspiring to hear how your professor has traveled the world, or to see what amazing work your classmate is doing. I used to look up to people like this and think I want to be just like you. However, I realized all the cool people I met had one thing in common: I liked them because they were unique. I realized if I wanted people to think of me the same way I thought of them, I needed to be unique too. Besides, it's impossible to be "just like" anyone because everyone is so different.

Of course, this is all easier said than done, but going forward, it's something I really want to work towards.

3. Finally, live for yourself first.

Most importantly, don't let other people pressure you or control you in making decisions. In the end, it's your life you have to live, not theirs, and you need to do what's best for you. It's impossible to please everyone and you shouldn't try to please everyone by putting yourself in a tough position. So, just join the club you want to join, study the major you want to study! It's your life.

It's ok to say "no" to someone who might not want to hear it and it's ok to say "yes" to something someone else might not want you to do. Maybe later you will find that you made the wrong choice, but you'll feel better about it if it's something you decided for yourself than if it was something you let someone else decide for you.

Everyone has a different college experience, but these are a few things I have learned from mine. Maybe these are lessons you are learning now too, or maybe these are things everyone knew and I'm just slow to realize.

I want to end by saying this: regardless of what you experience, if you can learn something, grow stronger, and/or become a better person because of it, then it was an experience worth having.

Until next time, 

Bye everyone :)