Biggest Lessons: If I could do first semester all over again, I definitely would not have gone out Sunday night of Labor Day Weekend. That was the most traumatic experience of my entire life. I decided to go out with my friends and we went to a random house party about 20 minutes walking distance from our dorm building. It was not a frat party, but just a random house party with upperclassmen. All I remember is taking 3 or 4 shots and I completely blacked out. I woke up in a hospital bed. It was absolutely terrible and the it was the worst that I have ever felt. I was definitely drugged because I have drank more than 3 shots before and was completely fine and did not end up in the hospital after being found on the floor unconscious. Since this event happened, I had to have a meeting with a judicial officer and got told the worst news that a freshman girl wanting to rush could hear. "You are not allowed to rush until junior year". I got put onto probation for a year and a half. I learned after that to watch what I was drinking and to always be cautious every time I went out. It hurts inside every time I see girls post sorority pictures or having events, but I know that God always has a plan.
Football Game of the Year: The most memorable football game was definitely the Homecoming game. My friends and I had such a fun time tailgating. All of the fraternities had all of their tents set up and everyone was blasting music. You could see everyone dancing and having a good time everywhere you looked.
Favorite/Most Memorable Experience: My most favorite memory was just being able to bond with all of the people on my floor every single night. Being able to hang out with your best friends 24/7 is so much fun. All of the stuff that we always talk about and everything we do is great. I've had the privilege of meeting some amazing people on my floor and I wouldn't know what I'd do without them.
New Year Resolutions: My New Year's Resolution is to become more fit and work out at the gym 5 days a week. I want to get more fit to prepare myself for dance team auditions in a couple months.
Song of the Year (Fall 2015): Sorry by Justin Biebe
Extracurricular/Co-Curricular Activities You're Involved In: Dance Club, Yoga Club
How have you changed since you started college?: I definitely have changed in numerous ways since beginning college in 2015. I have grown as a person by learning different things and being put into a completely different environment than what I have been used to for the last eighteen years. Moving half way across the country was one of the biggest decisions that I have ever had to made and I would never change it for the world. The beginning of first semester, I faced a huge culture shock and having to deal with trying to find new friends that I would be spending the next 4 years of my life with. I learned that it is definitely okay in college to be by yourself and that sitting alone at a table during lunch is completely fine. I promise you will not get judged. All through high school, everyone is always so worried about sitting with friends and if they're caught by themselves, they were considered to be a "loner". That is not the case in college, and especially at such a large university. I have also learned that there aren't really such a thing as "cliques" in college. Everyone talks to everyone, no matter your personality or status as a person. I have definitely matured as a person because I was always trying to get in the middle of drama and was constantly gossiping about other girls in high school. College truly makes you grow up.
Favorite Christmas/Holiday Ritual: My favorite Christmas ritual is when my family and I go downstairs Christmas morning and open up our stockings and presents. It is such a fun time and it makes me realize what family is really about. It makes me so thankful for them and I truly am grateful for them every single day.
From a scale of 1-10, how well do you think your first semester went?: I think from a scale of 1-10 I would put my first semester at an 8. It did start of really shaky, but by the end of September, I met amazing people on my floor and most importantly met my best friends. The homesickness definitely was a huge obstacle that was extremely difficult to deal with. I never thought that I was going to get THAT homesick, but it happened. For the first couple of weeks, I never left my room and all I could think was that I wasn't going to make any new friends. All I wanted was to go back home to Illinois and be with my high school friends. It was such a hard transition. I finally started getting comfortable and began saying Hi to people in the hallways. Before I knew it, my outgoing talkative self was back and college was going absolutely great. Also, my family was able to fly out for family weekend and that truly helped me a lot. Unfortunately, in the middle of October, I dealt with a loss of someone I was very close with back at home. I was not myself for a couple of weeks and there would be times where I would be crying underneath my sunglasses walking to and from classes. Thankfully, my friends were able to cheer me up. After that, my social life and friends in the dorms were nothing but amazing. The only thing that I did struggle with were some of my classes. I was definitely not prepared for college based on the classes that I took in high school. Finals week was one of the most stressful weeks ever. Overall, I did enjoy first semester and I had an awesome time.