I can honestly say that none of the expectations I had for completing my spring semester have gone as planned; that isn’t a bad thing. When it comes to transitioning from fall semester into the heavily anticipated spring semester, many things change within a short period of time. For first-year students, there are tons of new opportunities and experiences waiting to be taken advantage of. In just a few months, people come and go, professors turn classes up a notch and high school feels like forever ago. Through my own personal experiences at Elizabethtown College, I have learned to keeping moving forward and never stop.

Last semester, I participated in many campus activities. I became a Milton Hershey School Mentor, joined track and field, worked for Dining Services and became a co-anchor for ECTV-40. I assumed I would be part of all these great activities my entire first year here. As time progressed, I changed my mind, although I still remain a Milton Hershey School Mentor and work for Dining Services. I wasn’t surprised to see how far I’ve come, especially looking back to the first few days as a peer kid without a care in the world. I have two amazing peer mentors who I often see around campus and a few good friends from my peer group. Although we have tried to arrange events to attend and occasionally meet, none of them seemed to work out as planned.

I believe most students here would agree that going to Etown puts you into what I refer to as the “bubble.” This affects all students who attend a small, tight-knit community college. Students wonder where they are going with their lives. When we hear of news that is outside of the school, it is national and difficult for anyone not to know this information. We get so caught up in our assignments, weekend plans and search for summer internships that the outside almost ceases to exist for us. When I hear my family refer to their college days and how they talk about the exact things I am doing here, it makes me feel unique. This is not because I am a college student but because I’m a student here at Etown. The restless nights, exciting weekends, fun events around campus and, of course, the great friends I have met make it all the more memorable.

As a communications major at a liberal arts college, I get a great mix of educational opportunities and my favorite is no Friday classes. I am glad to have chosen this major because it fits my personality well and I enjoy what I do. At the beginning of the fall semester, I was working toward a job that could make me a lot of money. That has changed, because now I know I want a career that I love and am passionate about. My passion is not a paycheck. Last semester in my first-year seminar, Free Speech and Student Rights, I learned some major necessities for making it through college. This course informed us of the do’s and don’ts of Etown while in an easy and fun learning environment. I admit that I am not a morning person and a 9:30 a.m. was not ideal, but it was totally worth it.

Through all of my experiences, I would have loved to have all of the students who are no longer here, for various reasons, to be here. I guess this is just part of life — knowing that people come and go, just like memories. This semester, unlike the last, I have built stronger relationships with people here and my family at home. In the fall, Etown was new and I had a lot to see and do. That part hasn’t changed very much, but I have tried to find time to fit communicating with those I left back home more often. After being away for such a long time, stable friendships are necessary to help you stay on track. I still have a lot of growing to do. But luckily, each semester at Etown is helping me do so in what I believe to be the best way possible.