Four years of college, four lessons learned

            During my four years at University of the Cumberlands, I’ve learned a lot about relationships, life, and responsibility. The following list of four things that I’ve discovered during college, include what I’ve learned about friends, being confident in yourself, and finding your place wherever you are.

1.      Be bold when making friends and know that friendships change each semester.

Be bold and introduce yourself to people. Don’t wait for people to come up to you. Meeting people for the first time can be awkward, but don’t let that stop you. Some of my closest friends from college became my friends after an awkward first meeting. After you find out something you have in common, it gets a lot more relaxed and comfortable.

Along with making friends in college, another thing I learned freshman year is that friendships change. Not only will your friendships change from high school to college, but each semester you will have different friends. As you grow and change, your friends do too and not always along with you. It’s sad, but that’s a part of life. You have friends with you for a time. Make the most of the time you do have with people because you never know when friendships will fizzle out or when you’ll only see them via social media from that point on.

2.      Don’t wait to be included in plans, make your own and invite people or don’t.

Personally, I rarely make plans. However, I have discovered that it’s easier to be the instigator of plans and actually go on an adventure than to wait around for someone to text you plans. Another important lesson along with that, you don’t have to invite people to go on an adventure. Exploring the area by yourself can be just as fun and it’s a lot more convenient than trying to figure out when everyone’s schedules match. The difficulty of coordinating schedules brings me to my third lesson.

3.      It’s okay to eat alone at the caf or grill.

Recently, a couple of freshmen came up to me while I was sitting alone, eating lunch at the grill. One of them asked with surprise in her voice, “Why are you eating alone?” I told them how it’s a lot easier to go eat alone than to coordinate schedules with someone or wait for someone to go to lunch with you. Besides, it’s a nice way to incorporate introvert time in a busy day.

Trust me, no one is going to make fun of you for sitting alone. A lot of people eat alone and there’s nothing wrong with that.

4.      Find at least one activity that’s unrelated to schoolwork and get involved.

As a freshman, you’ll find it easy to dip your toe into everything. At UC, there’s Appalachian Ministry (they minister to kids and families in the area), Baptist Campus Ministry, Campus Activities Board, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Mountain Outreach (they do various building projects for the community), Student Government Association, and many more areas where you can get involved.

For about the first couple of weeks, trying out everything is good. After a few weeks, it’s best to start narrowing down activities and only do the ones that you’re passionate about. You will make friends in whatever activity you choose and don’t need to take a buddy with you. Go expecting to make friends who share similar passions as you.