Maintaining A Glass Half Full Outlook: Navigating Newfound Collegiate Independence

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

One year ago, I arrived at the front doors of Warren Towers endowed with three massive suitcases, two stuffed tote bags, and a doting mother reluctant to officially send me off to college. I was skeptical, but atop the massive pile of doubts that had accumulated over the summer about attending college, my hope stood strong.

I applied Early Decision I to Boston University. I had attended a three-week creative writing summer program at BU right before my junior year of high school, and ever since, I was dead set on applying early and attending. Any academic thought I had or action I took during the second half of high school was driven by the shining image of BU. So, when I received an acceptance letter one evening in the middle of December, I was beyond thrilled. 

Coming from a suburban town about a 45-minute drive from Chicago, the majority of my peers from high school are attending college in the Midwest, as few leave the region. I, however, viewed college as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to stray far away from everything I’d known my entire life. Leaving Illinois for my undergraduate studies had been on my radar from early on; I never felt particularly intimidated to leave my home state for BU.

My transition to BU was, to put it mildly, difficult. There was one morning, a few days before fall classes began, when I walked into a bustling Warren Towers dining hall for breakfast. As I scanned the sea of unfamiliar faces, it finally sank in that I was quite literally alone. I knew no one beyond my then roommate, and even so, we’d only exchanged surface-level information about one another. During my first semester at BU, it felt at many points like I was always, in some way, behind. 

However, as a now sophomore reflecting back, I realize that I was never behind. Every time I tried something new, whether that was applying to join campus organizations or hanging around with new people, I was growing and learning. That’s not to say that we should approach all situations with a transactional incentive of gaining something in mind, but rather with the headspace of openness to the unknown. While it may be difficult to embrace rejection, in the long run, it becomes a point of knowledge on which to base new experiences. 

With the little bit of wisdom that I have to offer to any current college freshmen, I simply advise you to try something new. Don’t close yourself off out of close-mindedness or fear of failure; rather, welcome every new experience like an old friend whom you haven’t seen in years. Talk to new people in your classes, attend club meetings, and explore Boston! The college experience is what you make of it, so start making something. Not every day is going to be good; some will be horrible, even, but recognizing that you’re exactly where you need to be is key.

College is a ship that you are the captain of, so steer wherever you feel it fits your truest self.

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