As Freshman year comes to a close, I can see distinctly the person I was coming into Ohio State, and the person I am now. I feel that this year I have grown a lot and learned more about who I am as a person. My time at Ohio State has been an amazing experience so far for me. I have met so many amazing people, experienced so many new things, and learned more than I could have imagined in a year. Even though my first semester was cut short this year, I know that I will only cherish my time in Columbus even more in the semesters to come.

Truthfully, college is a lot different than I thought it would be. I was worried about making friends, about the difficult professors, and about being away from home. But only after a week at OSU, I knew that it was my home. First, meeting people was easier than I thought. One of the greatest perks of living on a large campus is all the people you can meet. Second, although the classes were a challenge for sure, the professors assured us that they were aware that the transition from high school to college was difficult. They offered their support, and time to help each and every one of us with the process. I won’t lie, it was really hard for me at first to learn how to properly study. Not to make it sound like I am a genius, but I didn’t have to try very hard throughout high school, so adapting to the college workload was difficult. OSU is ready for students to feel this way. For example, in my CSE survey class, our advisor walked us through the entire college process; from applying to the major, all the way to graduation. This made me feel secure, knowing that Ohio State is prepared for me. Finally, I was worried about missing home. Honestly, the first few weeks were rough, as I hadn’t spent more than a week away from my family ever. Luckily there was always Facetime to keep us in touch despite the distance.

As I stated before, our second semester was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In fact, as of writing this post, nobody is even sure if we will make it back for the fall semester. I was certainly bummed out that I wouldn’t be going back after spring break, but I feel like I have learned a few things from this. First, I learned a lot about motivation and dedication to my studies. After classes switched to online, it was difficult to find the motivation to work on assignments without being at school (and being in quarantine!). I had to learn to structure my time efficiently to make sure I got all my work done on time. This took some time to adjust to, but overall, I think I have grown a lot because of it. And finally, as I said before, I have learned to cherish every moment I have. In the time I have left at school, I know I will be extremely grateful for every moment with my friends, every bite of food from Scott’s I take, and even every moment I used to dread in the lecture halls. I can’t wait to be back!