If you would have asked me in the beginning of February what I was going to learn during my spring semester, I most definitely would not have guessed Zoom. Unfortunately, we were all sent home only one month in to our second semester. After being home for two months with not much to do, I have had time to sit and reflect on my freshman year. I have learned many things during my college experience so far, but I did not realize much of it until I was stuck at home and all I had to do was think.
The first thing I learned was to try and live in the moment. If someone asks you to do something, do it. I have wasted so many opportunities to make memories just because I felt like I needed to finish a homework assignment, or I felt like I would have rather went to sleep. It took me some time to try and live spontaneously because I like to have everything planned out. I am the type of person who likes to plan out what time I’m having dinner, what I am going to do that night, etc. College has taught me that, though cliché, you really only do experience college once, and now in our case, a much shorter experience.
The next thing I learned was to appreciate the little things in life. I never thought I would miss my 10 am Dunkin runs in between my lab and chemistry class or walks to UDairy as much as I do right now. Instead, during my Dunkin runs I would always be complaining about how I didn’t want to go to my next class. When we will all be able to go back to school, I know that I will be savoring every moment, no matter how pointless it may seem in the moment.
Finally, the most important thing I learned was to be myself. I spent much of the beginning of the year trying to fit in with a certain group of people who I just couldn’t click with. It took me a few months to realize that I was not being myself, and I needed to reach out and find people I could be myself around. No matter how badly you want something, in the end it does not matter unless you are being yourself and you can look back and tell that you were genuinely happy during that time. Being true to yourself is the most important thing someone should focus on.
Freshman year of college has taught me more than I would have thought. If it was living in the moment, appreciating the little things, or even being true to yourself, I never would have guessed this would be my takeaway from freshman year. I am grateful for coming to these realizations sooner rather than later so now I can put these things to use in my life.
-Grace Smithmyer
English 110 Spring 2020 10:10-11:00 
Grace, your final point about being yourself is probably one of the biggest lessons that college can teach someone. Your experience with trying to fit in with a group that you don’t click with is so common and I think that’s a big thing that a lot of students should know before coming to college. We will certainly appreciate the little things more after all is said and done! I hope you are staying healthy and have a safe summer.
-Jamie
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I think we can all relate to each thing you learned this semester. Your final point made about “being yourself” is something I relate to. Its hard being in a new environment and creating new relationships when we were stuck with the same people for 12 years of our lives. “No matter how badly you want something, in the end it does not matter unless you are being yourself and you can look back and tell that you were genuinely happy during that time.” I love this sentence cause I know the hardest thing for me is looking back and regretting what I did and wondering what I could’ve done. I struggled with this and after going home and reflecting on my fall semester I wanted to see a change is how I was living my college experience.
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Hi Grace, hope you are doing well! This piece was really engaging and enjoyable to read. I really related to when you talked about how you’re the kind of person who needs a plan. The best way for me to be productive is to write out my entire day and follow it as the day goes on. I found out that it was really hard for me to do this in quarantine, especially since I was sitting in the same place at my desk in my room for the majority of the day. I also miss the everyday schedule of going to Dunkin in between classes, and I never realized how much I loved the routine until it was taken away. I loved your writing and I hope you are doing well!
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Hey Grace. I 100% relate to the idea of trying to live life spontaneously. I am also the type of person that wants to plan everything out and I also missed out on a lot early on because it wasn’t something I anticipated or wasn’t apart of my schedule, and I was too focused on getting work done to have some fun. I totally agree, you only do college once and you gotta try to make the most of it. Really nice piece.
-Austin
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