-Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Here I am, at the end of my freshmen year of college, wondering where on Earth the time went. This time last year I was preparing to take the IB exams and thinking about Prom. It seems like just yesterday, while also seeming like a lifetime ago. I have been told multiple times that college is the best four years of your life, and that it goes by in the blink of an eye. I try to embrace every moment, and yet here I am, awestruck at the speed with which a year progresses.
At the end of every school year, I often find myself reflecting on where I was the year previous. I have never noticed such a change in myself as great as the one between this year and last. I feel that college, being thrown into a new environment and being forced to live independently, teaches you more about yourself than anything else. In the past year, I have tested my limits and know where they stand. I have stepped outside of my comfort zone on multiple occasions, and have found that the comfort zone is overrated. I have learned that I am a morning person and a bit of a neat-freak, something that if you had told me I was a year ago I would have laughed in your face.
Overall, college has taught me that life does move pretty fast. I came from a town where there was nothing to do to a campus where if you think there’s nothing to do, you’re doing it wrong. I went to all but one meeting for my THON organization this year, as well as the many events between meetings. I went to every football game, free concerts, and was sure to check out whatever was going on in the hub each week (because there’s always something.) I even went to class! I immersed myself in what the college has to offer, and plan on doing so even more in upcoming years.
However, some of my favorite moments have been those when I stop and look around. Those days when the weather was too nice to pass up skipping class with your best friends just to sit around outside all day. Those nights that didn’t end until the sun came up. Those moments at THON when you’re completely out of it, but a little kid squirts you in the face with a water gun and it brings you back to reality and you realize why you’re doing what it is that you do.
Life does move pretty fast, but I make sure that I stop and look around once in a while. That being said, my freshmen year of college may have been one of the fastest years of my life, but it has also been one of the best. I feel that I have adequately appreciated my time as a freshmen, and am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life.