I don’t know if it’s just me, but, WOW, I simply cannot believe that this semester is coming to a close. I feel like it was just the first day of classes, and you were explaining to us how we would be writing three blog posts, talking about our experiences at Geneseo as first-year students. Here we are, twelve weeks later, one more blog post left to do. It really made me realize how quickly time is flying and how we will be halfway through the school year sooner rather than later. I think that these past twelve weeks have mainly consisted of trying to find your way in the world, especially at a brand new school and home. I was ready from the start. I had been planning my early graduation and going to college since the age of thirteen. Maybe I had been in over my head, but certainly can confirm that I was indeed ready. One of the biggest things that changed for me personally was the independence of being away from home. Life here at Geneseo allowed me the opportunity to flourish independently while also being supported by those around me. Life here has felt right like it was what I had been patiently waiting for since such a young age. The newness of being here no longer feels like fear and uncertainty but instead comfort and a place of growth.
I think a part of me expected to be more overwhelmed with the shift from high school life to college life. Especially in terms of classes and the demand of them. There is a different kind of readiness I’ve learned that you have to have at the college level. I feel as though I have raised the bar for myself and things have been for the most part pretty well. Did I know what I was getting myself into when I saw I was in a theatre class but don’t have a musically inclined bone in my body? Nope. Was I at all ready to write creatively when I had never written a single short story in my life? Absolutely not. But with every class that held any sort of uncertainty, I knew I would be able to meet every expectation and every challenge with the confidence that I could do greater than I imagined.
I tend to think about the future, probably way too much, as you can tell from what my thirteen-year-old self was planning. However, a part of me is excited for the first semester to be almost over so that I can start the next and continue on here at Genny. I feel like these past few months almost paved the way for the semesters to come. It was a chance to get used to how classes are, what it would be like meeting and working with others, but also testing your own personal limits and capacities. I’m seventeen right now and already thinking about how I’m ready to graduate college and move on with my life. Like I’ve said, if you really can’t tell already, I think about the future way too much. If there’s anything I’ve learned as week twelve begins, it’s that time truly is going faster than the blink of an eye and that you need to enjoy moments before they’re gone. It may have been quite the transition from life before college, but it has changed a lot of parts of my life for the better. I am very much looking forward to what life has in store in the future, and I don’t just mean five years in advance. I’m attempting to stay present and focus on the now.
