Let’s be honest, most people have a vision of what college is going to be like, whether that be raging parties every weekend or saying goodbye to sleep in place of homework. I knew I would not be saying hello to parties and I would not be saying goodbye to sleep, but I didn’t know much else. There wasn’t an ideal freshman year I had in my mind before starting and I think that really helped me not be disappointed with mine.
There were simple things I knew would happen:
1. I would make friends
2. I would learn things
3. College would be like nothing I’d ever experienced.
But there were also a lot of complicated things I never could have predicted:
1. School would be the easiest part of my life
2. I would sustain an injury that challenged me more than anything previously had, but which would also inspire me to change my life
3. My father would die
That’s not to say that classes were easy. First semester Logic kicked my butt (though I ended up getting a B). Even the classes I liked were a lot of work. College is nice because you’re in the classroom for less cumulative hours than in high school, but you get more homework, which is fine, just time consuming. You’ve gotta know how to budget your time. So what I’m trying to say is that classes weren’t easy, but everything else was harder. My dad died 3 days before I was supposed to have surgery, 9 days before Christmas. I’m not trying to illicit sympathy, I’m just trying to say that it was a lot all at once.
But I made it through. And I am better for it and stronger for it. This year I learned that upside down A’s exist in math(so do backward E’s), that abstractions are a no-no in fiction writing, and that Martin Luther talked a lot of trash. but I also learned that I can do anything.
I was on the Dean’s list both semesters. I got a poem and a short story published in my University’s literary magazine. I won 3rd place in a short story writing contest. I ran a 5k. And those are only my quantifiable accomplishments. Did freshman year go as smoothly as I hoped? Not even close. But it set me up to handle any bumps I’ll face in the future and, somehow, it has given me a more positive outlook. This year was a blessing in disguise (a really good disguise).
seeyouatnoon 