"People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built."- Eleanor Roosevelt

Can someone please tell me where did the last year go?
Everything’s happening so fast.
It’s like I’m on the highway going 110 into the sunset without intent of stopping.
I just want everything to speed up and slow down all at the same time.

I’m done with my freshman year of college. When did I even start?! Remember when it was freshman year of high school and you thought that went by fast? Well college, goes by even faster. For anyone who is planning on attending the Bridgewater State College, I have four words for you: be open to anything.

As I packed up my stuff on Thursday morning I couldn’t believe it. Looking at the old, empty white walls, seeing my wooden desk completely bare, and staring at my 3ft lofted bed with a vacant blue mattress, I was stunned. I’ve been a resident of 71 Woodward Hall for the last 9 months and in a matter of days it looks at though I had never been there. I remember moving in the first day, scared shitless of everything and as the weeks went by, I began to get used to my new environment of the college world. I began to get to know my roommates Christine and Theresa and ventured the halls of Wood to meet more people. I got the job that I’ve wanted since I first began my college tours my junior year of high school. I was a freshman tour guide, one of the two freshman selected. I was on cloud nine. I began going to parties the first month or so but then I realized that the party scene isn’t really for me every week. I found out that I can have just as much fun sober and remember than getting shitted and not remembering my night through pictures. I learned that the college work load was much harder than high school and I actually had to study in order to succeed. And I learned that it is quite possible to keep a relationship with a significant other when it is regarding the long distance.

As the year grew on I found myself completely comfortable in my triple dorm. I had my own space and was content. Friends on the other hand could be a different story. From the beginning of the year to the recent ending I can say I’ve hand a handful of lasting friendships. Others who I thought were my friends really weren’t. They never really cared about what I was doing, how I was feeling and never held conversations just to pass the time. I thought we were in college but somehow it seemed like I was in high school again with the drama at times. But I held my head high and realized that “the people that want you in their lives are the ones that you want in yours.” I got incredibly close with one of my roommates, the one who I thought I wouldn’t get to close too, and I became distant with the other, the one that I though we had so much in common with at the beginning of the year. But what one has to realize is that people change and life goes on, and that’s all you can really do.

What I’ll miss the most; well the list could go on forever. Some things I never thought would really impact my daily life, has in fact made a difference. I’ll miss my morning breakfasts with Devon, where we’d go to Tilly at 7:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 8:20 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday s. And how we would get really excited if they had chocolate chip pancakes on Friday mornings or had the mini oranges. The Wednesdays lunches that consisted of me eating 3 taco’s just because they were my favorite. Laughing non stop with Theresa about nothing important, usually we were procrastinating about school work that we didn’t really want to do. Having talks about moving sheep? Bumper stickers, making fun of things, yo mama jokes, and how I talk to her in a different language while I sleep. Ok ill stop we have too many jokes. Thursday heart to hearts with the girls when everyone else is out. The sun waking me up in the early morning because my bed is placed in just the right spot, making me instantly happy. These are just a few of what I’ll really miss, and its sad.

Walking out of Woodward Hall, I was reminded by Allie that I am no longer a resident of Woodward Hall. Not only will I never be a resident at Wood but I will no longer ever JUST be a resident. As of next fall, I will be a Resident Assistant in Durgin, the other freshman dorm. The roles have been reversed. Ill be the one doing all the hallway decorations, the name tags on each door. Ill be checking in the freshman on move in day, and I will know exactly how they feel. With their wide eyes and brains going a mile a minute, trying not to pretend their nervous but in all reality they are. But my time has passed; my freshman year is over and done with. I had such an amazing experience all along the way and those are the memories that I will always have. Because in fact, I will never be a resident of Woodward hall again, my empty desk will be filled with other items, my vacant bed won’t be vacant and my white walls will be covered in another freshman girl’s life. I was just apart of the building for such a short time but has impacted me greatly. 3rd floor love <33