Photo courtesy of Dom Fou/Unsplash

Dear freshman me,

You would not believe how college has turned out now that it’s halfway over. Believe it or not, you won’t stay shy and risk-averse forever. You’ll experience heartbreak, eat more than a few questionable meals on campus and stay up later than ever before to write papers, yet you’ll grow so much as a person.

It might seem like you’ll be sitting under the tent in the parking lot playing UNO with those kids well into the night for the rest of college, but that won’t last. Some of them will remain your closest friends, and together you’ll experience the ups and downs of college life. Others will become familiar faces to bump into on occasion, and a few you’ll regret having met. It is inevitable that you won’t be around the same people for all of college, so don’t be too down on yourself when that becomes clear.

Those long, boring Zoom meetings won’t be permanent, and instead of sitting in breakout rooms all the time you’ll learn to break out of your shell. Going out of state for college will seem like a mistake, as you won’t be able to fall back on your high school friends. However, it will teach you to be more outgoing and to seek positive influences in your life. When you join different clubs on campus and take classes in many different subjects, don’t wait to strike up a conversation with the people sitting near you, because they’re much less intimidating than they seem.

It’ll take you a little while to figure out what to study, and that’s okay. When you figure it out, you’ll learn in and out of the classroom and see its real-world significance daily. Don’t feel like you’re behind when your friends declare a major; you’re on your own timeline, and it will be worth the wait.

As much as you’ll grow and change freshman year, that process will keep going in a non-linear manner. Sometimes it’s okay to not want to do anything on weekends, so don’t worry what others are up to.

When you have the chance to attend in-person events and club meetings, don’t worry about signing up for everything, because you might feel like you have too much on your plate.

Be mindful of your schedule, because there is nothing more important than quality time, which can disappear before you know it.

With that being said, still take advantage of all the opportunities in front of you. You’ve always loved writing, so don’t be surprised if you end up joining the school paper on a whim and accomplishing more than you could ever imagine. Speak up in class, because that will lead to you connecting with alumni and professors and grant you the opportunity to travel.

Even though we’re only halfway there, maybe the next two years will be even better than the first two. Hopefully you’ll get to travel more, master a hobby and find some better dorm decorations. Call home when you get the chance, and don’t be so hard on yourself all the time. College is demanding enough as-is, so look out for yourself and keep searching for ways to be happy.

Until next time,

Julian