When I started this blog back in March, I intended to update it at least every week. I forgot that Spring Quarter is the busiest, most hectic quarter of the year so that goal was clearly not met. Whomp. After 11 weeks of applications, interviews, papers, exams, the last math class I will ever have to take (woo hoo!), culture shows, event-planning, and overall college, I am again recapping my quarter (and my sophomore year as a whole).

This year was definitely a challenge to say the least. Now, I understand what people meant when they said to freshman-me that they missed freshman year: The further you get into college (and life, I suppose!), the more you begin to understand what you want to spend your time doing and you actually do that thing(s) and you get busier and the classes become more specialized and harder. For me, sophomore year was a real learning experience because I realized a lot of things about myself, people, and life. I learned a lot of things in the past 33 weeks, but here are three of the most important:

1.  Step Up – I started the year applying for a job I really really really wanted even though it felt kind of like why would they hire me, I’m just a lowly sophomore. I was nervous, of course, but I got the job and it is the very reason why my year was so much fun, busy, and stressful. Throughout the year, I faced all kinds of projects that called for me to not only put my best foot forward but to also step up and embrace the fact that I was scared of what came next. Sure stepping up as a leader means more responsibility and more stress, but it also means the pay-off is that much greater. At the end of the day, I can’t say that I regret any of my all-nighters or hard conversations that had to happen because I decided I didn’t just want to sit and watch things happen. I wanted to make things happen.
2. Patience – Patience truly is a virtue. And it’s hard sometimes. Stepping up a lot of the times also meant delegating tasks to people or working with people and sometimes people don’t exactly know what you mean or they don’t do the job how you would like it done or any number of things! It’s frustrating and time-consuming to collaborate, but I learned to just take a deep breath and be patient. No matter how many times I would go back to my dorm room and rant to my roommate about how annoying people could be, I know that people do the best that they can do. You can’t control people. You have to trust them.
3. You Never Know What You’re Going to Get – Seriously, this year was full of so many surprises and 180s, I could barely keep my thoughts together some days. One day in March, I got onto a conference call with a co-worker and a boss knowing exactly what I was doing for a job this summer. After the conference call, it was like those summer plans went through a paper-shredder. I had no idea that with just one phone call my job could become jeopardized. I was lost for about a week then I figured it out—and as it turns out, that call led me to apply for and get a great internship for the summer! As my dad would say, you just have to be like water (Bruce Lee) and be flexible. ADDITIONALLY, people can and will surprise you, too. You never know who’s going to step up into your life, but when they do, you better hold onto them! 🙂

I was talking to a friend one night (as we scrambled to put together an end-of-the-year slideshow and movie) reminiscing on the year when I thought back to my freshman year. I thought about how I was a major dork without a clue, just finding my niche at SCU. Then I thought about this year and how much I’ve grown as a student, as a leader, and as a person. It kind of blew my mind how just one year could give me so much. Those three lessons I listed above really impacted me and I hope that I never forget their value. (Though, I am still a major dork hahah.)

I could go on and on and on about all my experiences this year as a student, MCC PR, ASM, and nineteen-year-old, but that would take too long. Not many people read this, but thank you to everyone who helped me along the way this year. I really appreciate the time my friends and classmates put into their work and their relationships! It takes a lot to be a student (not to mention when you go to SCU and everyone is involved in about 246 extracurriculars). Sophomore year will be missed, but things will only get better!  Here’s to a summer full of opportunity (and blogs!) 🙂