Well, it’s been a month since I made the leap into college life for the first time. In this period, I have realized there is absolutely no way to prepare yourself for the complete transformation in lifestyle. Sure, in high school you have to work hard, but the sheer influx of information is what surprised me. There is so much knowledge to attain on campus in lecture halls and outside them.
All of a sudden, you are plopped into a new environment — the College of William and Mary — where you are solely responsible for your own decisions and their outcomes. While this is only a smidge of what the “real world” is like, it can still be fairly overwhelming. From the freshman plague, to meeting new people and joining school organizations, there is far more for which to be responsible.
However, the best advice I was ever given was that college is the time and place to truly express yourself, and to be who you want to be since no one has any preconceived notions of who you are as a person. Getting to form my own identity as I wish is priceless. Applying this lesson of being yourself and creating your own happiness is integral in living a healthy lifestyle in college.
To begin this process of figuring out who I am at the College, I started by thinking about others. In these four years I hope to meet people from all walks of life with different perspectives, points of view and opinions so that I myself can become a more open-minded person.
Instead of using my first impression of someone to craft a complete profile, I want to step back and take them for who they are in that moment.
We all have internal issues, and no matter how big or small, they are valid.
Because of this, I want to find my own identity by allowing people to form their own as well without judgement.
Using this open-mindedness with the student body allows me to also have my mind as a blank slate to gather information in classes and soak up as much as I can in order to make the most out of the truly incredible opportunity college is.
Having classes have optional attendance and without graded work is secretly a test within itself. Can you as an individual find the value in completing tasks not necessarily required of you? With this I believe the journey to not only self-identity and morals begins to form, but also the journey to adulthood.
At the College there are so many outlets for creativity and expression to peak and fulfill the diverse minds that attend the institution. I am incredibly fortunate to be where I am right now, and I think I can speak for everyone on that matter.
Sometimes, it takes a moment of perspective to appreciate life as it is, and in the first month of being here, I was able to do just that.
Email Georgia Thoms at gthoms@email.wm.edu.