1 Year

We grow from learning. In the past year, I've grown a lot. It's been a few days over a year since I graduated from high school and pretty soon it will be a year since I set foot on my college campus. I've learned so much. This past year has been quite the experience. I've really learned a lot about myself and about other people. In a way, that was the main reason I wanted to go off to school, to learn more about life. I'm majoring in Women and Gender Studies and Sociology at the University of South Florida.

I've met great people, I've met people that make me think a lot. I learned things that I always knew but being in this new world gave a lot of those lessons confirmation. I was reminded that some things you have to keep telling yourself forever.

• It's okay to be yourself. It's more than okay, it's fantastic. There are so many opportunities to find where you belong. There is no need to settle where you're uncomfortable or feel like you don't belong.
• Not everyone is going to like you. You can't change who you are, if someone doesn't like you then so be it. It's probably because you believe strongly in something that they disagree with.
• Stand up for your beliefs.
  
• People can tell you who you are. That's for you to decide.
  

I started the year off as a Biomedical Sciences major. I found my heart and felt at home in the Women Studies department at an art crawl that I participated in for one of my classes. I don't think that there is a timeline on when you have to decide what you want to do with your life. I know I want to help people and touch lives and that's the most important thing to me.

Some moments were really hard but I'm so glad to be where I am. I love learning. I learn something new everyday. It could be something about communication. It could be about society. It could be about myself. Each day comes with something special. Learning is essential to life. I want to encourage you to learn about yourself and life in any way possible. We learn from life and that's what helps us carry on. Good Luck.