I feel like it was just yesterday that I began my first semester as a college student. I was an intimidated but excited seventeen year old, much younger than most of my classmates. For the first week of classes, the frustration of being lost was overwhelming. I would get lost on my way to school, get lost walking around what seemed like a huge campus, get lost inside the building trying to find my classroom, get lost trying to find my car, and get lost on my way home. I begged my parents to let me quit and threatened I'd do it anyway if they wouldn't let me. I came home after my biology lab which was the last class of my first week and cried uncontrollably. I felt like a fish out of water in a place I had rushed to get to. Despite my urge to quit like I had in far too many sports and clubs as a child, I had no choice but to stick it out. I still complained that everyone in my classes didn't have any motivation and I belonged in a school where the people were smarter. But I began to accept what I couldn't change and the loneliness started to fade away.

I made a few friends from school who I'd talk to casually but nothing to secure lifelong friendships. Except for one, Allie, who I just naturally felt comfortable with and enjoyed her company. We'd talk in biology and have a lot of fun in biology lab when we'd have some time to just mess around. We would talk about our lives; our friends, our family, our boyfriends. We simply opened up to eachother.

In September I was the girl who stood up in front of the public speaking class shaking with a stutter, telling everyone that I wanted to be a naturopathic doctor. But by the time of my last speech in early December, I realized how much I grew since that nerve wrecking speech. There I stood with just a few butterflies in my stomach but with excessive confidence and eagerness. The praise given from classmates was unbelievable and it made me feel like I found something that I was finally good at.

In English, Prof. Bentley Whitfield forced everyone to have a voice and an opinion. We would read essays and he would force us to interact about our thoughts. It didn't take much to get me involved and I treasured it more than anything. I loved having an opinion. It was in this class that a political argument was sparked between me and a woman triple my age. I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time and couldn't get out nearly all the thoughts in my head. But it was this that made me realize what a strong woman I can become. That I can stand up for everything that I believe in.

My last class was on Thursday and I didn't leave anxious for winter break to start or for Christmas to come. I wished I could go back and sit through one more day of class. Relax in the cozy library which had become my home from 4:45-6 on Mondays and Wednesdays. Make one more speech in public speaking. Sit and talk with Allie in Biology one last time. Talk to my classmates who were motivated and very intelligent despite my first thoughts. But it was over and there was no going back. The semester I never thought I'd get through ended up being something I'm sure I'll be missing all winter break if not longer. My wonderful semester was all thanks to some great people, teachers, and a school that becomes a little more like home every day I'm there. On Thursday morning, I hugged Allie goodbye and said goodbye to a semester I don't think I'll ever forget.