Reflection on Freshman Year

As a senior in highschool, i was so ready to get out, because the end was in sight. The last semester of my highschool career was focused on what school i was going to, and how far away graduation seemed. I still did well in school, but its wasnt a priority anymore. All i wanted to do was graduate and get out of there.

Once summer hit, i was pretty much working the whole time, my parents were of course getting on my nerves. It seemed like everything they did bothered me, i just couldnt wait until i moved out and could do whatever i wanted, whenever i wanted. Finally, that wonderful day at the end of august came, and it was time for me to make the 2 1/2 huor drive down to evansville to move in. At the time, Evansville seemed like a such a far away place from Ellettsville. I was so excited- i was on cloud nine; i had always wanted to move out of my town and go to school somewhere different, i just never dreamed that it was actually going to happen. So when i moved down here at first i had just a huge rush of being so far away from home, and finally getting away and beginning to live my dream.

Once school started everything was still going really well, my schedule wasnt too bad, none of my classes were too hard. I thought college was awesome! I then decided that i wanted to join a sorority-i had always been thinking about it-but like moving to a different town i didnt actually think i would do it, but i did, and i couldnt be more happy about it. I love being in a sorority and i love all my sisters, it would be hard to imagine myself being as happy here as i am if i werent in a sorority. All the girls make me feel so connected to this campus and to this town. It's definitely been one of those life changing decisions i've made.

backtracking a little- choosing a college to go to, for some, is the hardest decision of ur life. I know thats how it was for me. Every campus i visited i could invision myself living there and could see myself walking around all those campuses. Not a single college i went to stood out as an OH MY GOSH, I HAVE TO GO THERE..which made it hard to finally choose. The way i ended up at USI wasnt because it was number one on my list, it was prolly more like number 3. USI is the only public school that i applied to, the rest were private-meaning they were suuuper expensive. My parents and i worked with financial aid at all the private schools to see if they could give me enough money to go there, the only school that looked promising that they could give me enough money was DePauw, they had one HUGE scholarship that they gave out that would have covered my tuition, so i applied...and i didn't get enough money from them. When i found that out i was crushed- i had my heart set on going to DePauw, i didnt want to go anywhere else. So, when i found out that the one and only school that i might be able to go to, i now cant afford, i started freaking out because i had nowhere else to go. All the other schools i had applied to were just as expensive. I seriously thought that i would not be able to go to college for a year, becasue i hadnt applied to any other public schools. That part of my senior year was the worst, i was so afraid that my life was going down hill before id even graduated. Luckily though, I had done a visit at UofE, and that same day my parents brought me over to look at USI, because it was close and we had time to kill. This whole time i had forgotten all about USI and forgotten all about applying here. Once me and my parents remembered that; i was instantly relieved. Even though it wasn't my dream school, i was still going to be able to go to school! I was soo excited; but also a little nervous. I knew nothing about Evansville, i didnt even know how to get here;it seemed like this far away foreign land to me.

Before i even came to school in the fall i was already thinking about applying to IU and transferring back home after one semester. I knew i was going to hate it, and i didnt want to leave my friends and be so far away. During the summer, i never once gave any kind of hope for liking this place at all. i had my mind set on somewhere else and it didnt work, so i was going to just wait until i could apply to iu and come back home, and that was that. I had already decided that i was going to hate it here....but man was i wrong. I absolutely love USI, i love all the new friends that i have made and the campus...i couldnt imagine myself going anywhere but here, this fits me and it fits my life. I feel at home here, although after college i dont want to stay in this town. The size of this campus is perfect for me. I always knew that i wanted something small, and thats what i love about it here.

My classes here arent really something extra special to talk about, they were college classes-woo hoo. we all have to take them so they are nothing to get excited about. Im just happy that im still here, i passed my classes and im not failing college. :)

There are of course some things that i regret doing since ive been in college, mostly personal and not academic, but dont we all have regrest? isnt that part of living life? you can't go through life playing it safe, sometimes you've got to color outside of the lines. keep people guessing.

All in all, my freshman year has been great! I've grown up as a person and learned that i dont need my parents for everything i do, its scary to move out and live on your own, but its something that everyone has to do and i wouldnt trade this experience for anything.