What the First Semester of College Taught Me

We had lost our minds—my closest friends and I were dancing in the streets of Downtown Greenville just days before packing up our belongings and moving into college. Under the twinkling lights of Main Street, I was filled with fear of the future. I didn't want to leave my city, my friends, my life.

Now four months later, I have to laugh at this distant memory. On the last day of my first semester of college, I was in the same position as before: I didn't want to leave my city, my friends, my life. My new city, my new friends, my new life.

Here's what the first semester of college taught me:

Whispers with the Lord before shouts with the world.
Quiet time in the morning is the best way to start the day. Before college, I had never been consistent with daily quiet time. But setting aside those extra 15 minutes in the morning is so worth it. I've been amazed at how different my perspective and attitude is when I check in with the Lord before checking the notifications on my phone.

You can rise to meet any occasion.
I thought I would be a small fish in a big pond. With 5,000 freshmen and 32,000 undergrad students, I worried that I wouldn't have the opportunity to be a leader. However, I've found the opposite to be true. The more I pursue my passions and get involved on campus, the more I fall in love with my school. I am crazy thankful that I've had the opportunity to jump right into Student Government as a member of Freshman Council and that I was selected to be the Assistant Philanthropy Chair of my chapter of Alpha Delta Pi. I honestly can not imagine my first semester of college without these two organizations.

Football isn't boring. It's awesome!
I was the kid who brought a book to football games. I thought the whole ordeal was terribly boring. But there's something so different about it when it's your school, when you're cheering your team on in the student section. Granted, we tailgated harder than the Gamecocks played, but now there's no place I'd rather be than sand-storming in Willy-B.

The "college experience" is overrated.
By the "college experience," I mean the idea that college is a time to "experiment" and essentially throw all morals out the window in pursuit of a good time. While going out is fun—okay, really fun—there's a lot more to college than that. These are the four years that shape who you will be for the rest of your life. There's so much to learn and experience and explore, and most of that is done outside the bar.

I know that the remaining seven semesters of college are going to challenge me, inspire me, and grow me even more to be the person I'm supposed to be. And I can't wait. Forever to Thee.


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Next week I'll post my advice to high school seniors.
Sneak peek: It's all going to be okay!