College can consist of various situations, but often times it’s just another rollercoaster in your life with different speeds and bumps along the way. While college has it’s ups and downs, it also carries lots of love! In honor of Valentine’s Day, I have taken a time to reflect on the past two years of my college career and what I absolutely have enjoyed about it. As an engineering major, I can easily say my engineering courses have opened my mind and has allowed me to learn what I love, but that’s fairly too simple. On the other hand, what I do adore most about college is simple yet special to my experience and that is: the people.

‘The people’ is slightly vague. While college is a time to learn from your academic courses and attain a degree, it also allows for learning outside the classroom. From then and now, I have realized how many people throughout my two years have impacted my college career. From the moment I stepped onto campus, I had my resident advisor help me with the college transition, to my advisor help me in selecting classes and even had the Office of Minority Student Affairs introduce me to some amazing staff and faculty. Yet, aside from these great people, my fellow engineering peers are the ones I can deeply say have helped me become stronger, wiser and courageous.

Being an engineering student is universally known as being one of the most difficult majors in any college. My rollercoaster ride has more bumps in the road because of courses such as physics, dynamics and fluid mechanics. Yet, the difficulty of these courses are usually not experienced alone. In my college campus, I spend my days and nights studying with my fellow engineering peers in our study area called ITS. In the times we’ve had projects/homework sets, we have all grown closer as a group and have learned about our strengths/weaknesses. We have exchanged ideas and helped one another succeed in not only academia, but life in general. Sometimes I feel like I’ve honestly learned more from my peers than any of my college courses. College is filled with a diverse group of people and it’s interesting on who you cross paths with. These past two years, I’ve met the most special people in my life and would honestly say that what I love about college are these special people. I’m not just referring to my engineering friends, but my sorority sisters, advisors, co-workers and everyone else that has made this college experience, MY experience.

It is currently Valentine’s Day. A day to show your friends and loved ones how much you care about them. I am currently studying abroad in Madrid, Spain which means I am an ocean and 3,000 miles away from my college campus, which also means that I am greatly in love with the people from my university. They’re my all and can’t wait to reunite with them to tell them my adventures while abroad. I’m lovin’ this college experience, but it’s only worthwhile if you’re with the people that you care about and push you to do your ultimate best.