It’s so weird to think that just in less than a month, I’m done with school forever. Sure, I’ll learn exciting and new things post-grad, but it will never be the same as attending classes and learning crucial skills with friends in your classroom.
It’s crazy to think that just four years ago I walked onto Auburn’s campus for the first time as a student, not knowing what to expect. Auburn had always been a part of me, with my family having attended the university and high school and us being huge Auburn fans. However, I never expected it to mean more to me personally after being a part of it for four years.
So, to commemorate, I want to leave a note for my freshman self:
Dear eighteen-year-old me,
You might be sitting in your first dorm worrying about whether or not your roommates will like you, if you will get into a sorority that fits you, and if you will succeed as you hope to.
From the future, I can tell you that, yes, you do achieve those things, but not without some struggle.
You will encounter the strangest roommates from one that is *slightly* racist to one that snapped her laptop in half because it “wasn’t working.” Yep, these sound totally crazy but believe me, these are stories that you will tell for years to come because they are so funny.
Besides these wild roommates, you do become the closest friends with your other roommate, Katie. You will go on so many trips to get “garbage food” as she calls it, watch random cartoons on a Saturday night eating Tollhouse Cookie dough and bonding over the seasonal Target birds. She may seem so intimidating now, but trust me, she will become your closest friend.
Besides your roommate, I encourage that you really go headfirst in your sorority, your classes, and your extracurriculars. Yes, I know you’re super shy and you haven’t had to go through the whole “making new friends” process in a long time since you’ve been at the same school for 13 years, but believe me, you will want to step out of your comfort zone.
Auburn is full of so many amazing people that you can learn so much from. You will bump into people from all over the place and you will also run into some people you knew from high school. Without these people, you wouldn’t have realized that med school isn’t for you (because you know… you’re really bad at STEM) and you wouldn’t have found your passion in publishing.
Go out and reconnect with people from your high school because you won’t regret it. You may be scared of them now, but they will be the closest people you will ever know. My only regret from school is not reconnecting sooner, because now that we are graduating, I am so sad over the time we lost together.
Just trust me, I know that you are so shy right now, but you will never regret meeting new people. Don’t do what I did and say no to one too many hangout sessions with some people, because you never know where it will lead you to.
I know this is me mainly rambling and reminiscing about my friendships, but I’ll stress again this: break out of your shell. You may think that you have grown enough, but you will continue to grow and find what you need.
So, take advantage of everything Auburn has to offer. Go to more sporting events. Go check out those random silly events that Auburn has on campus. Because you will miss a whole year of your college experience to a pandemic, and even though it brought you closer to your friends and helped you rediscover yourself and your love for reading, you will slightly regret not taking part of some of these things.
Good luck freshman me! You’re going to do so great and you have a lot to look forward to.
Xoxo
Future you