As the spring semester of my first year of college comes to an end, I am left reflecting on everything that I’ve done during the past year. I am not the same person I was a year ago or even a few months ago. Since my reflection on the fall semester, I have experienced many new things. There have been two key factors that influenced my college experience thus far: my residence hall and trying new things.
Dorm experience
One of the most cliché aspects of the “freshman experience” is living in a dorm with 200 other first-year students. But clichés are popular for a reason. Living in a residence hall on campus at TCU has significantly influenced the way I’ve changed over the past nine months.
I am a proud member of the Foster Hall Phoenixes at TCU, which is arguably the best residence hall on campus (100% unbiased opinion); it has been the biggest contributor to my growth in college so far.
One thing that Foster Hall does differently than other dorms is create community around the desk and the lobby area. Through my desk assistant job at the Foster Hall front desk, I was able to meet people who I would’ve otherwise never met. Now I get to call them my friends.
Foster gave me a safe place to be myself. From the student staff to the hall director, everyone cares for the community and empowers all residents.
I thank myself for choosing to apply for the desk assistant position, my manager and hall director for hiring me, and most importantly, whoever was in charge of my room assignments for giving me the privilege of living in Foster Hall. Without my job, my dorm, and my roommate, I would have not enjoyed my first year of college as much as I did, so thank you. Go Freaks!
Trying new things
The second factor that had the most influence on my college experience was saying yes to new opportunities. When I say, “saying yes,” I do not mean just agreeing to every single new experience that comes your way without considering academics or time management. Part of college is knowing when to say yes and no to opportunities and whether an opportunity will benefit you or not.
My new experiences included overcoming fears and leaving my comfort zone. For me, this looked like going to the gym for the first time with a friend because I was too scared to go by myself, which later shifted to me only wanting to go by myself, showcasing my growth.
Another one of my new experiences was joining my first college club, Her Campus. At first, I was scared of the commitment and intimidated by everyone, but I later became a member of the executive board.
A third experience that was something new for me was going to places alone. This was something that to me seemed “embarrassing” because of the social pressures put on by peers in high school but turned out to be something extremely common here that I had to get used to. Now, I can appreciate my alone time and enjoy it to the fullest without feeling left out.
Closing
As I mentioned in my fall semester reflection, college has been a rollercoaster with many ups and downs, but I wouldn’t change a thing. From my “Freshman Year Bucket List,” I was able to complete an additional seven items out of the remaining eleven that I needed after finishing the fall semester, making my total fifteen completed items out of the nineteen items that needed to be completed. I participated in my first all-nighter (not as fun as I expected it to be, but I did it), went to my first TCU Women’s Basketball game, took a lot of pictures, went to the gym, and more.
With this, I can confidently say I am excited to embark on the next three years of my journey at TCU.