college is weird

They always say that college goes by so fast. "It is the best and fastest 4 years of your life" is the cliché. Truth be told, they're right. It feels like I have lived a million lives within these past four years. Nearly four years ago I hopped on a plane to Georgia, on a campus I had only visited once, and planned to live with a girl I met on Instagram. I will never forget the small closets, the communal bathrooms, and those late nights spent with hall-mates and roommates bonding over our life stories. Surrounding yourself with a group of people that make home not feel hundreds of miles away is a special kind of love. These girls shaped the college experience and we all survived dorm life together. Sophomore year I moved into the sorority house again with a girl I barely knew as my roommate. Thankfully, I have had the best roommates throughout college, and each new roommate became a best friend. The sorority house lifestyle was a major step up. First, I had my car from home. Game changer. I could get Chipotle and not feel guilty about the DoorDash fees. I could also go to Target and T.J. Maxx freely - and spend ginormous amounts of money on matching pajamas and seasonally scented candles. The sorority house housed 50 girls I barely knew and over breakfast, lunch, dinner we became great friends. I could (and probably will) share many stories of life in the sorority house, but the moral of the story is how formative sophomore year was. The sophomore year slump is real. I really missed home some days, and I was longing for a summer that was constantly months away. It was all weird. You are not a freshman, so you should have an idea with where you want your life to go, but you are not an upperclassmen, so at the end of the day it is not your problem yet. At least that's how I pictured it through the lens of a perfectionist procrastinator. Sophomore year showed me who I want to be. Now, I did not quite fit that persona throughout sophomore year, but I set myself up for more development and change. I think sophomore year is when my frontal lobe developed to be honest. Junior year may have been the best year of my life. I had grown into new friendships, while still keeping in touch with the girls who didn't live with me. I was finally enrolled in my classes geared towards my major. I moved into an apartment with 4 other roommates, which again, resulted in new best friends. Apartment life is great. Our own kitchen, living room, TV, bar cart, room, and bathroom. There was nothing else I could have asked for. I get sentimental thinking about junior year. Some of my best nights were spent by just rotting on the couch and binging shows with girls who became family. Junior year was filled with many new experiences, and new ways of grounding myself through all the emotions I constantly feel. I am a cancer star sign, so almost everything is sentimental and dramatic. Friendships as upperclassmen are really strong and the support of friendship was everything and more. As I am now a senior, there are more sentimental feelings and stress but with a support system like mine, it all gets easier. College is weird. I enhanced emotional intelligence over the course of four years, and shared friendships with girls I never would have met if I did not put myself out there. Say yes to stuff, lean on your friends, and do not lose the touch of your long distance friends around the country. Growing is never linear, and you are never required to go through the hard days alone. College is short in the grand scheme of life. There are four years to make it what it is, and it is important to not take a day for granted. There will be more to say on the development of senior year. Remember, itsjaneslife, but it is always yours too!