There are a lot of things I can’t believe. I can’t believe I was in your shoes just three years ago, I can’t believe I am a senior and that I have less than a year of this carefree college life, I can’t believe that in less than 9 short months I may be moving away and starting all over again, and I surely cannot believe that I am soon expected to be a full-fledged adult.
There are a lot of things I couldn’t believe when I was a freshman either, like how I only had to go to class for sometimes as little as an hour and a half when they used to have us trapped in school for 8 whole hours, what a waste! Or how food actually does make you fat if you aren’t doing cheer/volleyball/soccer/etc. practice everyday. I couldn’t believe how little high school prepared me for college studying and exams. And I also could hardly believe how not homesick I was because I was having so much fun, but how much I did really miss my dog.
There are so many things I didn’t know though and still so much that I have to learn, but I can tell you a few things. In college, you will change. I remember going home for the first time during Thanksgiving break and the moment I walked into my room I started crying. I cried for two reasons, first being that the awful bright green walls (that I still don’t know why my parents let me paint that color) were so bright it literally hurt my eyes after three months of not seeing them everyday, but also because I felt like a brand new person going into that room, like the last time I left I was someone else and that so much had changed in three short months.
And while many of my friends from home may say I haven’t changed a bit, the change is inside. I feel and am more independent now, I take care of myself and my own well being now, my parents aren’t there making sure I am fed, sleep enough or study, that is all on me. I feel more empathy, I care more, I cherish more, I love more, I try to not taking things for granted. I am smarter now, I am more cultured, I understand more and am more able and willing to open my perspective to those that may differ from my own. And while you may not change in all the same ways I did, you are bound to change. This whole new chapter of your life is a change and you will inevitably face more changes.
College challenges you. There is school, studying, friends, boys, social life, family, internships, clubs, sleep and so much more that everyone has to find a balance between. College is a time to find out who you truly are and what you truly want. I learned more about myself in that first three months of college then I did in the first 18 years of my life. And now here I am three years later still finding out more and more each day. There will never be another time to be more free, another time in life where your responsibilities are minimal and you can really explore. It is a time to make mistakes, because chances are they won’t even matter in a few months, and probably definitely won’t matter in a few years.
No one knows or cares who you used to be so if you want to start over then go for it. If UT’s slogan “what starts here changes the world” inspires you to do amazing things in the coming years to truly make an impact on society then do it. If you want to join a club, rush a sorority, run for student government, write for a student publication, whatever it may be, do it. Now is the time to figure out who you are and who you are supposed to be. Now is the time to grow and change into the person you want to become. Now is the time to spread your wings and fly because in a few short years, you will want to be wondering where the time went not what you could have done with the time you wasted.