So, that's my Sunday suggestion to all of you! (Maybe that'll be a future blog post! Oooooo! Wouldn't that be fun?!?!)
However, my main goal was not to give you some valuable life advice (Ya know what's really funny about that? (Okay, I think it's funny.) Here I am, an 18 year old who has been sheltered for a majority of her life giving life advice to her blog followers. Doesn't it make you chuckle? No? All right, that's just me then...) I wanted to let you know about how to college life is treating me.
As I led to tell you earlier, it was off to a rough start. I thought that I could handle being in a new school, new city, new state, new life on my own. I didn't realize how desperately I wanted to have a friend from home with me. And it was hard. I thought I was strong enough, but I don't even know how many times I just kind of lost it and would break down crying. (By the way, I'm a crier if you didn't know. I cry at anything and everything. Weddings, movies, books, puppies, you name it and I cry.) I would call my parents and hearing their voices would make me tear up, or I'd get a text from a close friend, or I'd see Facebook pictures...Yea...Long story short: I cried often.
But, honestly, it was hard. And it kinda still is.
Eventually I had had enough and I decided to do something with my life. So I did. I met some super nice girls on my floor who I do enjoy popping my head in and saying hi. I started to be more social and accessed my inner-extrovert. I joined clubs. I met random kids. I invited people to sit with me at meals. I started making connections with people who I sort of knew and developed the relationships into real friendships. (I also met another girl who is also the only one from a large high school that came here. And she's from Minnesota. We get along swimmingly and she's probably my closest friend here!)
(Plus, my Welcome Week guides and my peer advisor are totally awesome and I so owe them for everything they did for me!)
And although I made progress, it's still challenging and I still get homesick. I talk to my siblings on the phone and they already sound so much older than they were a month ago. My grandparents call me and it hurts knowing they're so far away. And my dog...Oh man, do I miss my dog. (Funny side-note: I make my family hold the phone to his ear when I'm talking to them. I don't know if it does anything, but I hope it lets him know that I miss him.)
I text one of my best friends everyday and we always are texting or sharing funny stories. We video-chat not nearly as often as we should and talk on the phone every once in a while. It just kinda reminds you how different your life is now.
Moving on to the academic aspect of college...It's hard. Not like I thought, though. I'm taking 1-2 more credits than recommended (ooppps) and a couple of my classes are more challenging than I originally thought. It's good, though. I turned in a big paper on Friday and took two exams as well, so I'm really, REALLY hoping that I did well on them.
And as much as I love this school...I'm filled with doubts, too. (Not about this school, but more about me.) Being undecided (undeclared, multi-interested, exploring, whatever you wanna call it) sucks. A lot. I hate being uncertain. It's such a bummer listening to your peers talk about their major: "I'm going into business." "I'm going into education." "I'm going into nursing!" "I'm undecided." (Yup...Kinda sucks.)
(Jeez, sorry. This post took a total down-turn...) I'm trying to process all of it and decide what I want to do with my future and part of it includes questioning if I even belong here. Like, should I even be in college? I worked my butt off to get here, but should I be here in the first place? So, yea. Still a complete bummer and it just kinda puts a sour taste in your mouth.
So, moving onto a happier topic, this weekend was Parents' Weekend. Yay! My parents made the 4 hour trek to come see their favorite child. They came in Friday evening and we went out to breakfast Saturday, went to the football game, went shopping for a little, ate dinner together, went back to the hotel and hung out, and spent the morning/early afternoon together as well. It was so nice just being with my parents and I realized how much that I really missed them. (It totally sucked saying goodbye and I teared up (shocker).) But! I get to go home for Fall Break in a little under a month and I'm very excited.
All in all...This isn't bad. I do love it. I've met some great friends here and am enjoying myself. I gotta keep up my positive attitude and work my butt off. I'll figure out what to do with my life...eventually.
Love,
Katie
P.S. And because this post was so heavy, here's a nice picture to give you some inspiration. :)
