What I've Learned My Freshman Year

it's ok to stand up for myself and what i believe.

this is still a work in progress, but i'm getting better.

going to bed between 12 and 1 is just not allowed.

its just a really awkward hour - its not night, but its not morning. it's the best time to get the tj's and stay up and giggle with your friend, reflecting on how you "wish it was one" until it finally is one and then you're too wound up to sleep anyway.

you don’t have to go out and party to enjoy a Friday or Saturday night.

this isn't to say i haven't gone out. but some of the nights i've spent in with Claire and Emily and whoever else randomly gets added into the mix have been the best i've had.

spontaneity is beautiful.

life doesn't have to be planned. sometimes its just nice to take it as it comes, and go wherever life takes you.

how to take naps/sleep through insane amounts of noise.

Before coming to CLU, I always said “I can’t take naps, i don’t know how.” I wasn’t lying...but as a tired student/athlete who lives in the loudest freshman dorm on campus, you learn...fast. I’m pretty sure I could sleep through the break during Quiet Hours at this point.

i can push through difficult challenges, even when they seem impossible.

recovering after DBJ. initial college homesickness. WINTER TRAINING CAMP. i'm still alive...just taking it one day at a time.

i’m very accident prone.

being friends with Emily probably hasn't helped this at all, but i wouldn't trade her for the world. The good news is, i never had to make a trip to the ER! the bad news is, i've given myself a concussion/hit my head far too many times, gotten keyed in the face, ate it in a parking lot and bruised my hip, tendonitis in my shoulder, gashed open my knee on a rock...etc etc...but its ok cuz i can always laugh about it now =)

how to read music and play the recorder.

Theres not a whole lot to say about this...only its something I never thought I would ever learn! I’m by no means a pro...or even an amateur...barely a beginner. But it was still a cool experience!

breakfast is over rated, especially when you dont even have class till 2:45.

not counting weekends...i've eaten breakfast in the cafeteria maybe 10 times max this entire year. i value my sleep time, okay? why get up at nine just to go eat breakfast when i could sleep until eleven and make lunch my first year? haha

you don’t always have to over-achieve...you just have to do your best.

i was an over achiever in elementary school. i was an over achiever in middle school. up until senior year, i was an over achiever in high school. i found my balance this year between the over achiever i've been all my life and the slacker i was senior year. its a good middle ground to be at =)

don’t throw a guacamole container into the regular trashcan.

unless you really want your room to smell like poop for three days straight. if you do, then more power to you. personally, i'm not a fan.

adventuring is a life necessity.

my ipod says "if life was easy, where would all the adventures be?" It's so true. college, besides being a giant adventure in itself, was full of adventures - to the store, to drive around, to the mall, to Ventura, to someone else's room, around campus, and of course, my favorite, the ones with no goal whatsoever.

Gossip Girl marathons with your best friend make any bad day a little better.

Claire and I made it through two seasons of Gossip Girl in less than two months...maybe sometimes we had other things we should have been doing, but sometimes you just need that chill time, especially on days that aren't the best. Our only problem now is waiting for season 3 to be released...sigh....

how to live with other people.

it's a cooperative effort. but i wouldn't trade living with claire for the world. now the other two...well lets just say i'm excited for that to get changed up next semester. ;)

time flies when you’re having fun.

I keep finding myself saying, “Where did this whole year go? I feel like I just got here!” I always go home and feel like I’ve been gone for a weekend...but its been 8 and a half months. 8 and a have months of a damn good time.

i lead a very blessed life.

...‘nuff said. I am so so so grateful

Obviously, I’ve learned a lot of other really small things, like ladies can have beards too, how to give a chihuahua a bath in the dorm sink, what to do when a friend slices off the top of her toe, and how to shave your legs in a shower that is box sized. I could list the little but memorable things like how pillow talk with Dylan after a wild night is perfectly acceptable, jet skiing and cliff jumping in Havasu with the greatest and most inspirational group of girls, learning to deal with Claire’s sleep talking/walking, and the blind bird that chirps outside our window at 2 in the morning. But i don’t wanna bore you...those are more of the “you had to be there” moments. :)

Don’t get me wrong, I learned stuff in the sometimes interesting but more often dreadfully boring classes I attended all year...but sometimes those lessons just aren’t as important as the lessons that life itself teaches you. College isn’t just class, its a total experience.

Freshman year was pretty sweet, I’d say. I’m ready for round two, but first - summer, here I come. Thank the big guy upstairs for that one! :)