On College: How Did I Get Here?
Not too long ago, my friends and I were sitting in the dining hall enjoying a post-running practice dinner, as was our custom on Monday nights. Our group consisted of four sophomores, including myself, and two freshmen.
Quite often, one of the freshmen has a tendency to talk about his past high school experiences, and this evening was no exception. “One moment I’m at prom, and the next I’m finishing my first year of college,” he’d exclaimed, attempting to appear nonchalant as he waved his fork around, but also seeming somewhat distressed, amazed, and bewildered as to how this could possibly be.
As a sophomore, nearly half done with my entire undergraduate college career, I am — compared to my freshman friend — perhaps a little more used to the fact that high school has definitively ended. For me, that ship sailed about two years ago, in a whirlwind of fast-paced memories and indescribable, nostalgia-infused emotions. But despite that, listening to my friend wistfully relive his high school years, I could still understand completely.
There are times we get so caught up in our day-to-day lives as college students — scrambling to get that homework assignment in before midnight, frantically texting group members to collaborate on a project, or scarfing down a pathetic meal before dashing off to class. But in the rare moments we get to ourselves, when our minds are temporarily quieted, we can’t help but sit back and wonder, “How did I get here?” “Where did the time go?”
For some, high school and everything before it may have seemed a millennium ago. These people are glad to be rid of the past, perfectly content to be living in the present while churning towards the future, full steam ahead. For others, high school just happened and it’s difficult to let it go. But no matter the situation, it’s undeniable that everyone has experienced a lot in between high school graduation and wherever they now find themselves in college.
Even freshmen, with just one year of college under their belts, have seen and done a lot. I know for me, college was initially a huge, scary transition that would forever alter the course of my existence. And in some ways, it did. In my first year, I lived away from home for the first time, felt emotions I had never felt before, met new people (some I liked and some not so much), and stepped out of my comfort zone way more times than I had ever imagined.
Yet, in many other ways, college was a huge, exciting transition that would forever alter the course of my existence. I experienced the freedom of being semi-independent and making my own decisions for the first time, formed incredible new friendships, and stepped out of my comfort zone often enough to know that I should never stop doing so.
So for every freshman who feels that letting go of the past is difficult, I will agree: it is. Especially with the end of the semester looming upon us, moving on to the big, scary, unpredictable future seems daunting and unappealing. Yet, it’s also important to remember this: pursuing what lies in the here and now, as well as what awaits in the future, is so much more rewarding.