Four years ago I first stepped on Rowanā€™s campus. As an eager freshman, I knew that I was on the cusp of a journey of self-discovery and change. Growing up I eagerly listened to teachers telling me how formative their college years were. They told me they arrived as one person and left as another. Throughout the years I found myself slowly changing. I became a better version of myself every day. Like my teachers promised I found myself become a totally different person. Here are a few big ways that Iā€™ve changed from freshman year to senior year.
- Iā€™ve stopped being afraid of being alone.Ā
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When I was in high school I found myself being friends with anyone and everyone. I was severely bullied in middle school and because of that I never wanted to be alone again. In college, this fear led me to make toxic friends and to let them walk all over me. Iā€™ve learnedĀ slowly but surely, that being alone is a lot better than being in bad company.
- Iā€™ve realized that being nice and being a pushover are two different things.
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I used to think that being nice was pushing myself to the limit for other people. But, I realized that I can still be nice while setting boundaries for myself. Iā€™m still willing to go the extra mile for certain people but Iā€™ll do it on my own terms.
- Iā€™ve learned how to use my voice more often.
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This is a more recent development. Iā€™ve always been afraid to tell people my opinion because Iā€™ve been afraid of being labeled as a b*tch. Now, I speak up more often and embrace the label.
- Iā€™ve stopped caring (for the most part) about what people think.
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One thing that I adore about my self-love journey is the fact that the more that I love myself the less that I care about what other people think.
- Iā€™ve learned to believe in myself.
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Getting into a competitive graduate school taught me that I have a skewed opinion of my own self-worth. Iā€™ve been taking a lot more risks and trusting my abilities now more than I ever did throughout myĀ freshman year.