This blog post is going to be a little bit different. This is my last required post for the semester, and as weird as this may sound, I am a very different person from when I originally started these posts. When I started this blog for this class, I was eighteen years old and brand new to college. I was scared and incredibly lonely and homesick. I was overwhelmed and actually convinced that I had made a mistake and that college wasn’t for me. I felt like I had been thrown out into an ocean and told to keep myself afloat. Now, as of writing this post, I am nineteen years old and still pretty new to college. The difference is though, I don’t feel so scared anymore. I don’t feel so homesick anymore either because somehow in some strange way in these past months, Norman has become my home. It’s bittersweet to say that because a part of me feels like I’m betraying the people in my hometown but then another part of me feels like maybe that’s a necessary part of the journey. Maybe growing means moving on despite it hurting a little bit. I’ve learned a lot about myself since August. I’ve learned to never put assignments off, but if you do get a dr.pepper and a bag of chips for the night you finally decide to start. I’ve learned to not take things too seriously because everyone is pretty much just making this up as we go along. I’ve learned that life has a funny way of working out and that the way God shows up in it is really incredible. I’ve learned the importance of community and having genuine people around you who want to see you grow and succeed. Most of all, I’ve learned how to wait. Wait on what I deserve and wait for good things because they take time. I’ve learned to wait on God which if we’re being completely honest here is challenging but worth it. If for some reason, anyone at all at any point in time is reading this, here is a nineteen year old college freshman’s life advice that she’ll probably look back in the future and cringe. My advice to you would be to live life. Laugh loud and often, go on late-night drives with good friends, listen to good music. Talk to Jesus, and cry to Him too. Be there for your friends but let them be there for you too. Be kind to others, but be kind to yourself too, kind enough to know when to walk away and kind enough to know when to let yourself stay.
My name is Alexia Elliott. I’m nineteen years old and a freshman in college. I’m a little less scared than when I started out and I’m going to be okay.