The end of the school year is just around the corner and I wanted to share a little about my personal experience at UND thus far. As a freshman, I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve heard from many people that college will be the ‘best four years of your life’, but I didn’t fully understand what that meant.

I’m from Minneapolis, Minn, which is about a five hour drive from UND. When I first arrived here at UND, I knew I was in for a treat. The people I crossed paths with immediately treated me with so much kindness, respect and most importantly, these people reminded me a lot of home.

To be completely honest, I was actually excited to be away from home. I was excited to see how I would adapt to a new environment, away from my family and the friends I was used to seeing all the time. In high school, I wasn’t as independent of a person as I am now, which shows that college has shaped me for the better.

As a freshman in college, everyone is forced to introduce themselves to other people. College allows people to come out of their comfort zones and be more outgoing. Although I would consider myself to be a pretty extroverted individual, I’ve met others who are the complete opposite. I’ve noticed how my friends, who are more on the introverted side, have made so many different connections and friendships along the way, proving that college really does make people more comfortable when it comes to getting out of their comfort zones.

The way I made my connections and friendships in college was actually pretty easy, I went through sorority recruitment, made conversations with my classmates, introduced myself at social outings, etc. I feel like this is the easiest way to meet people and I’m sure this is how most college students make their connections as well.

Freshman year can be difficult for many students since they’re still adapting to the college lifestyle. Realistically speaking, most students try to find a stable balance between ‘going out’ and staying motivated academically. One thing to note about about me is my good time management skills and that I’m not a huge procrastinator. I strongly prioritize my academics and get all of my work done before doing anything else- which is something I take a lot of pride in. In college especially, it’s easy to procrastinate since it’s a lot more laid back from high school. It’s also easy to get side tracked since there’s always so much going on.

My first semester of freshman year went above and beyond my expectations. I excelled academically while making some of the best memories of my life. College has made me more independent and spontaneous, and while my dad might beg to differ, I like to think that I’ve become more mature. I am blessed to have such amazing friends to go through college with, not to mention how lucky I am to have such strong connections with my advisor and professors.

First semester went by in the blink of an eye and it looks like it’s not slowing down anytime soon. I’m already halfway into my second semester of college and it’s already going by too fast.

As cheesy as this may sound, my word of advice to college students is this- cherish every moment of your college experience, whether those moments are good or bad. The bad times for me were from me being a little more ‘stressed out’ than usual but these time are always good to reflect on. It allows you to take things one step at a time while learning from any mistakes or bad moments you’ve experienced. Another thing that I can confidently suggest is to attend your classes.

Although I am guilty of skipping a few classes here and there, I can’t stress enough how important it is to actively attend your classes. My first reasoning for this is that you are paying for your education, more specifically, a very expensive education.

Second, it makes you stand out to your professors, which gives you a bigger chance to make strong connections with your professors and be a lot more successful in your courses.

My last piece of advice, don’t be afraid to use your resources on campus such as your advisors, professors, TA’s, classmates, etc. If you need some guidance, don’t worry because there are plenty of people on campus who are willing to help you with whatever you need.