Finally moved in and finished a week of classes, so it's time to do a little reflection!
Hello, friend! It's good to be back writing after taking this past week off. It's been absolutely crazy, but in the best way. One of my classmates described the first week of school as "drinking from a fire hose," and I couldn't agree more. It's a lot, and it's a weird adjustment, but it's a lot of good things. Long story short: college so far has been overwhelming, encouraging, challenging, and fun.
Okay, so that little update didn't have too much to do with this post, but I think it's a good segue way to talk about how there is good in difficult things.
Inspiration
My roommate, Bobbie, and I were talking about this week and how it's a lot to adjust to all at once. (Shameless plug: Bobbie is an inspiration, you'll definitely be hearing more about her in posts to come!) A common word that most people in my classes have been using to describe this week is "overwhelming." Of course, I'm right there with them, but why is that the word of the week?
Well, we were talking about how, going into college, everyone told us that it would be the best four years of our lives. Obviously, that's a super exciting and encouraging thing to hear...
HOWEVER
...we never stopped to ask what "best" means.
It's one of those words that means something different to everyone. Some may define "best four years" as making a ton of new friends; others may have meant one's best academic years in regards to success. Still more may be referring to the "best" formative years of growth. And there are so many more interpretations!
While talking to Bobbie, I realized that I thought "best" would be me getting everything right the first time and growing in my confidence. Let me tell you: I've already messed up multiple times this week. Nobody told me it would be easy, but I suppose part of me assumed that it would be—that part that thought I could get everything right.
Essentially, this week has been a bit of a reality check for me, my roomie, and a lot of freshmen around us.
So... False Advertisement?
No, there wasn't technically any false advertisement. It was mostly just my own misinterpretation. Nobody told me that the "best four years" would be easy or that everything would magically fall into place within the first week, but somehow that's what myself (and a lot of other freshmen around me) thought.
It's hard to be wrong, especially when it comes to having high expectations, but it's so good to realize when you're wrong and try to understand why. That's what this post is for me; it's me processing a misinterpretation or false expectation I held.
This isn't to say that college isn't going well or that I don't love it—it's amazing and I love it. It's more that I wanted to share a learning process that I'm going through right now in regards to expectations versus reality. Sometimes our expectations are wrong, and that's okay! It means we have an opportunity to grow in the reality of the truth. And that's what I'm trying to remind myself this week: growth in spite of challenges is necessary.
I hope this is an encouragement to you that it's okay to be wrong, as long as you're willing to learn from it. Knowing that the pieces won't immediately fall into place in college is so important because then I can be more accepting and patient with myself when I make mistakes. The same goes for you, no matter what stage of life you're in right now! Take that time to forgive, accept, and acknowledge your mistakes or when you're in the wrong. It's not just a skill, but a gift to be able to give yourself such grace. So, keep growing as you go!
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