After four years of an incredible journey of ups and downs, today I sat and reflected after my best friend just moved out. It’s been a long four years, but when I think about it, it has been so short because it literally feels like yesterday I was walking the halls at Brock overwhelmed with how large and new it was. Now I walk the halls thinking “how was I ever confused about this place at first” as each wall holds a memory, a thought, an experience from countless days walking the halls to go to class, to meet my friends and to talk to my professors. The past four years I grew up more than I ever though possible, don’t get me wrong, I’m still an immature party animal but that will fade as my twenties do. Over the past four years here are some things I have learned while at University:
1. Intelligence is unique, it comes in many forms, while knowledge comes from many sources. Be open to explore those outlets- the Library is your friend 🙂
2. Friends come unexpectedly, from people you may never have thought possible. So make sure to allow yourself to let those people in your life.
3. With that being said, growing up means changes, changes means busy lives, so although you may not see your friends everyday, when you do it will feel like those two months of not speaking never happened.
4. Growing up is hard. From first year to finally being independent, to second year and learning how to cook for yourself, to third year and having to find trusting and worth while friendships, to finally fourth year and figuring out what to do once you graduate.
4. As the years progress, school doesn’t get easier it gets harder, but in a good way, in a way where you are allowed to push yourself, to challenge yourself to see your full potential.
5. With that comes many all nighters, but oddly that is where some of the best ideas are created.
6. You will choose friends and drinking before your paper, but other times that paper will come first.
7. You will learn from your mistakes and you will laugh at your mistakes. So don’t take first year to harshly, everyone was a ‘wooo’ girl at least once in their life.
8. Professors are there to help you and they actually like to sit and chat with you, even over a tall glass of beer.
9. You will fuck up, it comes with learning how to be independent, but you will bounce back.
10. Some friendships will be the wrong friendships, there will be fights, tantrums, stolen items, name calling and hair pulling, but those ‘friends’ will help you figure out who you actually want to surround yourself with.
11. You will have your heart broken and you will also break someones heart. Remember, do what’s best for you because you are who you have to live with for the rest of your life.
12. There will be moments where you want to quit, where you sit in your room crying, where you hate every god damn professor who makes you read 300 page novels about lap dogs, but that struggle is worth it. That struggle shows how much you are willing to do to get that diploma.
13. You will have classes where you do the bare minimal and you will have classes where you will go above and beyond, these will help you find what you like in life, what actually interests you.
14. Drunken nights with the closets friends can either go entirely right or entirely wrong.
15. You will lose things, but things are material, so get over it.
16. It’s hard to speak up in a lecture that sometimes hold 200 people, don’t be afraid to ask a question, or at least speak to your professor after class to help you out.
17. Girls are bitches, guys are assholes- don’t let people bring you down or stand in your way. Let the haters hate and the lovers love.
18. Those who really care about you will actually show it so don’t waste your time chasing things that wont matter a few months from now.
19. Your family supports you and your decisions, even though it may take time for them to understand. Remember, to them you will always be there little kid so you have to understand that all they want is the best for you.
20. If you really want something go after it, you are your worst critic so don’t let yourself stand in the way of something you may be to afraid to catch at first. Take those leaps, step past that line that you haven’t crossed, burst out of that bubble because there is a whole world out there that’s ready for you and what you have to offer. It may be a challenge to get to at first, but in the end it will be worth it.
There are so many other things I learned in University, it is an experience I would never regret and never do over. Every moment, every decision made is a step in a direction of your adult life. You learn a lot about yourself and a lot about others. There will be people who hate you, and people who you hate, but all theses obstacles that we face are there to challenge us to get to where we need to be. Screw the haters, screw the people standing in front of your dreams. Go for what you are after and knockout those bitches in the way.
Esspresso Yourself 