The First Day & Advice for Sophomore Me

There was a little bit of me ripped out when I walked out of preschool. Walking through the halls of Stansbury on my first day today, that little bit was replaced and then some. The school smelled like cafeteria and rain (my two favorite smells) and a bit of dust that was still settling from construction. The halls sounded like talking and laughing and lockers slamming and the principal giving morning announcements. There were colorful new book bags all over, posters on the walls welcoming students to the classrooms, a lot of confused faces, but a lot of happy faces too. And I felt like I was at home.

It's been said that this next year will be the hardest of my life. I believe that. This is new territory. But for now, everything we do just makes me excited and I love it all. When the times get hard I need to remember that at one point, I loved all of these things, and try to remember why that was, or at least remember what it felt like to love these things.

ALRIGHT. Yesterday was advice for Freshman me. Now's for advice for Sophomore me. Sophomore year was a crazy one, so buckle up tight and lets go.

-Don't be afraid of getting attached to people. If they're your friends, they'll stick around, and if they can't stick around, at least you had fun with them. It's no fun going through college avoiding making friends out of fear of being sad when they're gone.






-You're pretty savvy now. Not as savvy as a sailor, but pretty savvy. If you've got a bad feeling about something or someone, it's probably for a reason beyond just "nerves". You'll be far better off if you cut those things out as soon as possible. Rip the bandaid off. You'll get over it quick.

-GET IN TO SEE AN ADVISER. Ask them what classes you need to take. Tell them to write down the exact semester you should take the classes. Then follow that schedule from there on out. And when classes get posted for the semester, register immediately. It doesn't take that long. Just get it done.

-Hahahahahahah that whole life plan you've got? Not gonna happen. Sophomore year is not the year that the plan you set out for your life is gonna happen. Senior year probably isn't either. It's ok to have plans for where you want to go, but remember that most of those plans are open to change, and let them change, because frankly, you're still young. Super young. And there's a lot more out there for you than you might think.

-Get SERIOUS about school. You will forever be kicking your bum about not fully investing in school this year. Take full loads. Take classes that matter. Who knows, maybe you'll get out of that extra year of college and TUITION.

-Seriously, morning classes and night classes aren't that bad. It'd be great to live in a world where you only have class between 12 and 3, but that's not gonna happen so put on your big girl pants and get your bum to school even if it's before 12 and after 3.

-I know you're not gonna regret moving home in the long run. If you hadn't have transferred back for a semester you wouldn't have met your Joe. So maybe this is advice for the population in general. There's no such thin as just doing a semester away to see how you like it and transferring credits back if you didn't like it. Credits don't transfer, like ever.

-Haters gonna hate. It's ok to not be cool. It's ok to stick up for the things you think are good for you. If the cool crowd is full of rudes, then find a cooler crowd.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post! It's interesting writing these things because I feel like as time went on, I had less advice for myself. Getting into the golden years.