Wednesday, April 17, 2019

What I Wish I Knew Then

I don't know what it is about the end of the school year, but it always makes me incredibly sentimental and reflective- especially realizing that I only have one more year left after this.

I'm sorry...what??

It seems like just yesterday I was moving into Azalea (it will forever be New Hall to me), both far too excited and way too nervous to finally be a real life college student! Three years have gone by and, surprisingly, I still get just as nervous and excited to move back to campus every year - ready to catch up with friends, see what the new semester holds and what I'll learn. Yes, academically, but also real life things too! Because, let me tell you, these past few years have taught me so much!

If I could somehow manage to write a letter of advice to my 18 year-old self, it'd be a novel, honestly. But the main point would have to be this:

Who you are today is just a fraction of who you'll be tomorrow.  

Every day you learn something new, whether you realize it or not. Every day, you have the opportunity to grow more and more into your best self. College seems to speed up this growth track by a lot. Especially freshman year. That first year out on your own is when you decide who you want to be as individual, without your parents' or teachers' or other leaders' input. There's no more babysitting.

You decide if you want to have a strong work ethic.

You decide if you're someone who makes a great leader, or if you make a great follower (both are important roles, by the way).

You decide who you're going to be. As a student. As an individual. As a learner.

As a sub-point to this piece of advice, I'd have to say to choose to be a proactive learner. If you know you're a heavy procrastinator, figure out a system that works around that (a trick I learned, aside from keeping up with a planner, is to set due dates for two days before the real one). Be on top of things and don't be scared to ask questions!

Out of all the things South has taught me, this is by far the biggest lesson I've learned!

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