There is a reason why our homes are often also referred to as “the nest.” We are raised and nurtured there before we are set free into the real world, much like baby birds are by their mothers in their own nests. There is also a reason why “empty nesters” is the term used to describe a married couple whose children have all left the nest to go to college.
I believe the reason why we have given our parents this name is because we really are just like baby birds. Leaving the nest was terrifying and exhilarating all at once. We weren’t totally confident that we were ready to spread our wings and take on entirely new territory, but we did it. Arriving at a foreign place with thousands of new things to do and people to meet was overwhelming in the best way possible. Quite literally, we became as free as a bird.
Becoming completely unsupervised and let off the leash for the first time in our lives was an extraordinary feeling. There was basically no one that we had to answer to or be responsible for other than ourselves. We came here with a blank slate, ready to make a beautiful mess of our freshman year.
And what a beautiful mess it was. Not having Mom and Dad around has its perks, but it is challenging trying to juggle what we do for ourselves and, suddenly, what our parents used to do for us. Sure, you’ve always known how to do your homework, but did you ever once lay a hand on your laundry before coming to college? The entire year has been an all-encompassing and invaluable learning experience that you truly cannot get any way else besides being on your own for the first time.
There have been a lot of lessons that you had to learn the hard way from your peers or even yourself . Being able to run our own lives does not, by any stretch of the imagination, make us invincible. In fact, this makes us more vulnerable. Unfortunately for about every single one of us, vulnerability and alcohol do not make a great cocktail. Some nights are better off never spoken about again, but most nights we managed to have a little bit (okay, a lot) of fun.
Can freshman year possibly be coming to an end?
One of the most rewarding things about this year was realizing how smart and successful we really are. Success becomes much harder to accomplish in college as opposed to high school. We have to stand out, go above and beyond, and push ourselves like no one has ever pushed us before. When all of the hard work has paid off and we ace an exam, we get to reward ourselves in whatever way we deem fit.
We should be especially proud of everything that we have accomplished in our first year of being collegiettes. We’ve made a few mistakes along the way, but we wouldn’t take any of them back if we could. All of the ups and downs have taught us what works for us and what doesn’t, what we should never do and what we should always do.
Freshman year of college is a landmark in the journey of our lives; it is something that we will remember every moment of forever. Okay, well, maybe not every moment. The point is that our freshman year of college is something that we have looked forward to for years, as we were praying to get the hell out of high school. Once we moved in and began this new chapter, time flew before our very eyes.
We have grown into new and improved versions of ourselves. We have set goals, and achieved them. We have met the people who we want to stand next to at our wedding and have daily conversations with thirty years from now. We’ve had more fun in one week here than we ever thought possible. This is undoubtedly the best time of our lives, so cheers to the next three years.