Glancing at the familiar faces in the dining hall, a peaceful emotion settled in my heart. This was becoming my home, and I was okay with that. More than okay really…I was thankful to be here. Each day, realization hits me that I am in college, successfully participating. For weeks, the idea of being the first in my family to attend college terrified me. What if I was not as smart as everyone thought? What if my writing made the literature teacher cringe, and what if I was unable to find derivatives in calculus? I remember panicking during move-in day. Stepping on the campus seemed surreal. I felt that at any second, someone would tap me on my shoulder and tell me that I was in the wrong place, confirming my deepest fear. However, this never happened, and soon, I was zipping from place to place, collecting keys, finding my room, and moving belongings into the dorm. On the down side, the room was covered in ants, a persistent pest problem that still wakes me up every so often. But on the plus side, my roommate was great, and our easy-going sarcasm broke the ice in minutes. Hours later, with clothes neatly arranged in the closet and posters adorning every conceivable inch, our dorm looked more like home rather than four white walls and a ceiling. Every day since has been filled with a new adventure, even if it’s as simple as waking up and heading to Advanced Problem Solving-my only class on Fridays. I am growing confident that my college experience will help mold my influence within society. After starting school this year, I believe that you mustn’t fear that you are unready for the impact of college, but instead, believe that college is not ready for what you’re destined to achieve!
