The summer after graduating high school I was scrambling to get things ready for college, terrified I was going to hate it. Cincinnati wasn’t my first choice, I got stuck in a dorm room with seven girls I didn’t know, and I was only going to see my family once every couple of months. Despite all my lists and planning, I felt wholly unprepared. Looking back now, I can’t believe how much I’ve grown to love UC and the people that live there. Scioto Room 1111 became my glass walled home.

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It’s crazy the way friendships can start. For my room, the surplus of free Kroger gift bags we got Welcome Weekend was a key factor. We ended up with over a hundred tortillas. We decided that we’d have a tortilla party and invite everyone on our floor, as well as the people we met since move in, over for quesadillas and tacos. This ended up cementing our friendships with the 8 person guys dorm on the floor above us, who we now do pretty much everything with. I was afraid I wouldn’t even make a couple of close friends this year and now I’m going into sophomore year with a solid group of 10-12 friends that I love spending time with. They’ve supported me through the highs and lows of college thus far as well as with life.

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As I move into my second year, I want to continue to grow with and learn from these friends. They encourage me to go after my goals and have taught me a lot about mental health. I also want to try and meet new people because you never know when you’ll run into someone who will change your life. To do this, I want to join a couple clubs, maybe get back into soccer, and go to more events around campus.

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This year also caused a shift in my professional goals and aspirations. I went into college on the Pre-Pharmacy track, mainly I think because I felt pressured not to go in undecided. After the first semester, I decided that pharmacy didn’t seem like the right fit for me and I switched into just the Biology major. I want to go into something I’m passionate about and that I feel I could make a meaningful difference in. If it doesn’t fit these two things I feel that I would be selling myself and my potential short. I took two classes that really made me think about some possibilities for my future. They were Animal Diversity at the Zoo and Exploring the Amazon. I’ve always really liked working with animals and learning about the environment and conservation efforts. These classes introduced me to some possible career paths, such as wildlife veterinarian or conservation researcher. Because of the Amazon class, I decided to take an Environmental Studies class in the fall and possibly pursue it as a minor. Traveling to Brazil was also an incredible experience and confirmed my desire to travel through work, volunteering, or personal time. I feel like traveling is such an important way to learn, both about yourself and other people. It is a powerful and eye opening tool. This summer will consist of me doing a lot of soul searching, researching careers, and trying to schedule job shadowing opportunities. Hopefully I will come out of the next few months or so with a more clear perception of my future.

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Overall, this year of college has been one of the best experiences of my life and has allowed me to grow. It was failing and learning, hardship and friendship, first love and heartbreak, stress tears and success, confusion and clarity. It was so many things and more. I can’t wait to see what I learn and how I develop in the coming years through personal and professional experiences.