That’s a wrap – my second year of university is done, and let me tell you, it was not what I was expecting at all. As I am sitting down right now writing this article, I think about the person I was in September 2019 and realize how different she is from who I am right now. I think that I am not the only person who was surprised by the way the school year 2019/2020 went (thank you COVID-19), but beyond that, I went through a lot of experiences that also surprised me.
In my first year, it was very hard being away from home alone for the first time. Even though I was used to moving a lot, being alone made it harder, so the first half of the year was not what I had thought it would be like. By the second semester, I had made a lot more friends and was hanging out a lot with them. So, when I came back at the beginning of my second year, I had people to come back to; I was not going to be alone after leaving my family.
This year, I hung out a lot with my friends, made more memories with them and, thanks to them, I felt happy and I had not felt happy like that in a really long time. This is one of the aspects of my personality that changed – I became a little bit more positive (keyword: little). I used to always see the cup half empty, but now it depends on the days. Sometimes I see it half-empty, sometimes I see it half full. I became someone who jokes around a lot more and who loves to make others laugh.
My way of enjoying being alone has also changed now. I used to love being alone because I didn’t want to go out and socializing with people took too much energy out of me (it sometimes still does; we all have our days). Now I am alone because I want to be, and now understand that you can do things alone if you want to – go to the movies, go shopping or go sightseeing alone; it’s okay and it doesn’t mean you have no friends or that you are lonely. Sometimes when I talk with my friends from back home, they tell me that could never go to a restaurant and eat alone; I admit it can sometimes feel lonely, but as an introvert I have realized that my alone time is a time where I recharge my battery and enjoy things that maybe most of my friends do not enjoy as much.
Overall, I feel that I am becoming a better version of myself and this school year really demonstrated it to myself. I am becoming more social, kinder and less pessimistic. I am really excited to see what kind of person I will be next year or in two years because 2018 Maéva is very different from 2020 Maéva.