It’s hard to believe that the semester is nearly over. My first year as a college student, and it’s practically over! It’s hard to believe that the terrified girl that stepped onto this new campus, was me only nine short months ago. Since that first step, I have grown much more than I could have ever imagined.
This week, I related to Kyle Miller’s post on her growth as a result of the experiences related to college life. I relate to her statement, “College has been about the things that really challenge us to grow on the inside.” Although I am finishing my first year, and still have a long way to go (and grow), I feel that the experiences that I have had thus far in my college career, have forced me to grow on the inside.
The first semester of college was one of the hardest four months of my life. I never would have imagined that I could miss home as much as I did that first long stretch. Of course I missed my family and friends, but I think the main reason why I wanted to go home was because I was so overwhelmed with all of the new experiences I had been having….and I was exhausted. I even worried about returning to school for the second semester. I wondered if it was going to be as overwhelming as the first. However, this semester has gone by so fast! I can’t say that I am quite ready to go home yet! And now I can look back at the challenges that I faced in my first semester, and determine that they were necessary in order for me to grow into a college student.
College forces one to think about the world in different and even scary perspectives. In thinking this way, it allows you to consider all possibilities within certain problems and subjects. And by doing this, I know my knowledge on the world surrounding me has grown. Especially through ENVS 160 (environmental studies class). Coming into this class, with a small background in AP Environmental Science, I thought that environmental problems were maybe a little convoluted, but nothing compared to how I feel about them today. I had an ignorant, straightforward understanding of the issues within the environment that humanity faces today. Especially on the subject of vegetarianism. I definitely believed that vegetarianism was the undebatable solution to the ethical environmental issues behind the meat industry. Although I won’t be changing my eating habits (at least anytime soon), after researching and gaining a better understanding through my solutions project, I now recognize that vegetarianism is not the best, or only solution. I have also learned that vegetarian products, such as soy beans, are factors in many environmental issues. It could be even worse to be a vegetarian than a carnivore! It is in this way that College, and especially the ENVS program, have allowed my education to undergo growth as well as my own personal belief system.
From late nights studying and educational expansion, to newfound friendships and social experiences, college is all about that growth.