Since I have not done a personal post in a while I decided that this week's post will be about an update on college and how things are going for me. After going away for college my life has completely changed and I have changed as well. New friends, a new home and a new way of living happened all at once. I remember the first day as if it was yesterday, I cried as my mother and aunt dropped me off in my dorm room, a decision that I thought was what I was dying to do turned out to be one of the hardest things I had to overcome.
After they left I realized how alone I felt and that now I was on my own, it took me a while to meet people because I felt uncomfortable and I felt like I could hardly relate to any one of the people around me. The floor in which I lived in was mostly made up of deaf people so it was hard for me to communicate with them. I come from New York City a place where mostly everyone is mixed and looks like me, coming to RIT I had trouble relating to most people because they had a different cultural backgrounds. My roommate hardly spoke to me and when she did it was to say "Hi" and "Bye". My first year was definitely not what I expected it to be it was so bad that I started to feel depressed and began seeking for other schools to transfer to. Before I made any decision I emailed my guidance counselor and she suggested I stayed and see what I learned about myself.
It turns out that my freshman year was a year that I discovered many things about myself. I discovered that I am a very strong individual, and that after a while I am able to get used to new things and environments. I learned how to live with people from different backgrounds and that trying new things can be fun. I went to my first hockey game here at RIT and I loved it, the environment, music and the school spirit was something that I had never experienced before. I am very glad that I decided to make the decision of leaving my home because I got to learn responsibility and learn about not only my career but about my personality.
My second year is only half way finished and I continue to learn new things everyday. However, nothing is set in stone and I am having difficulties deciding where I want to end up after I graduate. Coming in with 44 college credits allowed me to be 1 year ahead of my graduating class. This helped me but also made it a little difficult for me because I have to rush into a decisions that I would have had an extra year to think about. I am currently working with my advisers and faculty to decide which decision is best for me.
To anyone deciding whether or not they should go away, I recommend doing it. Had I stayed home I probably would not have learned everything that I did about myself if I had went to school near home. It is a great experience and something that you will only be able to do once in a lifetime.
I learned a lot about myself this past semester, I learned that I need to work on time management a little more and that procrastination is not ever a good option. For next semester I plan on managing my time more effectively and not procrastinating. It can be an extremely hard thing to do but with commitment and motivation I think that I will be able to do it.
