Lessons Learned

I have officially completed my first semester at Baylor University and I couldn't have asked for a better way to start out my college experience! Was it hard? You betcha. College is tough, but all good things take work. I ended up having 6 finals, with 3 in one day while I was also sick. But I survived!! I managed to pull off 4 A+'s, 1 B+, and 1 B. Not as great as I wanted to do, but I'm not complaining!! I figured this post could be about the lessons I learned as a Freshman in college. I have this underlying fear that this post is going to be obnoxiously long, so I'll try my best to keep it long, but not obnoxiously long.

Lesson #1

Don't ever take Statistics in college. Ever. It is one of those classes that makes you hate your life when you leave. I somehow managed to get a B in that class and I have no idea how. Actually, I made a B by prayer and prayer alone. I went into my stats final on Monday knowing pretty much nothing. Literally. And I ended up getting a 70 on the final, which isn't good, but when you know nothing, it's pretty decent. I managed to get an 80 for the semester and I call that a success. Now, let's review. When your adviser tells you that Stats would be an interesting class to take, what do you tell them? NOOOOOOOOO

Lesson #2

I absolutely LOVE Baylor and everything Baylor has built it's foundation on. For instance, when I went to go take one of my six exams, after the professor passed out the test and everything, he made everyone stop what they were doing. He said that before we started, he wanted to pray with us so we all bowed our heads as he prayed for us to do well on the test and have a safe break. How awesome is that?! I just love that my college is like that. And of course, our sports are doing pretty awesome this season too. I mean, our quarterback did just win the Heisman award. No big deal or anything.

Lesson #3

Everything people tell you about college is true. For example:

• You're gonna be broke
• Sure enough. College kids never have money. But it's part of the atmosphere so you learn to accept it.
• It's hard
• Studying in college is not like studying in high school. Studying in high school is pretty much having your notes in front of you while you watch tv. Studying in college is spending hours in the library with no distractions while you immerse yourself in the subject.
• You're going to lose touch with friends
• I only talk to about 5 people I went to high school with on a regular basis. On the other hand, I didn't see one of my best friends for about 3 months and we're closer then ever right now. But, I also had a friend in high school that I was really close with that I haven't talked to since college started. I'm not blaming anyone, cause I definitely could've picked up the phone too, but it just happens. You get busy with school and you lose touch with people. 
• You're going to miss your family
• This one was tough for me because I'm super close to my family and not seeing them regularly was really tough. It takes some getting used to.

Lesson #4

Appreciate the things you've always had because you now might be without them. I really like living in Waco, but I really missing walking to the store and knowing seeing a friendly face. I miss knowing everyone. I also really miss my church. I've found a church in Waco, but it's just not the same. One of the things I look forward to the most when I go home is going to church on Sunday morning. Nothing replaces it.

Lesson #5

You'll definitely form some amazing friendships in college, but, at least in your first semester, the friends from back home that you stay in touch with are going to be such a blessing. You know if the friendship has lasted through the semester, then they're probably there to stay. And you can count on them to be there for you when it feels like nothing is going your way.

Lesson #6

Your relationship with God will most likely change a lot. Not necessarily in a bad way, but not necessarily in a  good way. It just depends on you and what you want in life. I know for me, it took breaking down some walls and realizing that I can't handle life on my own. So for me, it was in a good way. But it took some time and soul searching for it to get to the good part.  

Okay I'm not going to go back and proof read this post because I'm trying to stay away from everything academic on my break. Okay not really, I'm just super tired and I'm too lazy to go back and read it. So I'm apologizing in advance for my errors. In other news, I'm going to a Houston Texans game this weekend with some friends and I'm super excited!! I've been boycotting pro sports lately and only watching college so I'm breaking my boycott for this game. 

Side note- if you haven't watched this movie (Elf) yet this Christmas season, please do so soon! It's such a great Christmas movie and I guarantee that you will be laughing throughout the whole thing.