College Adventures

In 7 days, I will start my final semester of college. College has been an absolute roller coaster for me: wonderful and awful all at the same time. I started off my college career at Young Harris College in the tiny mountain town of Young Harris, GA. I was far enough away from home to make up excuses that I couldn't make it home that weekend and close enough that I could meet my parents halfway to eat dinner on a Tuesday night when I was homesick or mad at a boy. 

Freshman year was a mess. I was an 18 year old, slightly sheltered girl who wanted to have the perfect college experience and things didn't always go as planned. I lived with my best friend and our suite mate was one of the greatest girls I've ever known. The three of us are still ridiculously close even though I'm in Boone, Katherine is at Purdue and Bekah stayed at Young Harris. When the three of us were (and are) together it's an absolute blast. 

First night in the dorm

We met a group of guys that we were with all the time. Those guys are some of the best guys in the world and I still think highly of all of them even though we didn't keep in touch too well. 

Halloween

Most of them played tennis and we had a tendency to act like groupies sometimes. But they loved it and it was a blast. For example, we once drove down to Milledgeville, GA about 3 hours away wearing matching outfits and cheered them on in a tournament. 

Then came the boy. Isn't that always the way? Everything is great and then a boy comes along. In short, I acted a fool. I thought he was the greatest guy in the world and for a couple months he acted that way. Turned out, he wasn't such a great guy. And it led to lots of drama and my best friend moving out spring semester (no worries, we're obviously still best friends!). I definitely did not act like myself and I regret the way I treated people but at the same time I learned so much about who I am and what I want from life and a relationship. 

Once I transferred to App State in the fall of 2010, I was ready for a brand new start with new people, places and experiences. I only knew one person, my other best friend Kristin, upon moving to App and she was gracious enough to include me with her friends and through her I met my wonderful boyfriend. As much as I swore that I wanted to "swear off boys" and all that nonsense. I met him and that was that. (Maybe one day I'll venture into our full story...) 

Sometimes I wish I had made a decisions to go somewhere else my freshman year so I could've saved some heartbreak and then sometimes I wish I had stayed there because it was comfortable. But, looking back on my time in college and knowing how much I have grown and all the amazing experiences I have had, I wouldn't take a single thing back. College is for learning and growing and I did just that. And had I made different decisions, I could have missed out on some great friendships and the best guy in the entire world. 

App State best friends!