Being home means talking about home.
So, I'm sitting here in my local coffee shop in the town I was born and raised in. I've been back home for a couple of weeks now, and I've answered the question approximately 2 million and 7 times at this point. You know the question. The "So, how is college? How was your first semester?" question. Please, don't take this the wrong way. I am so grateful to have such an incredible support system here at home that cares so much about me that is willing to take the time to sit and ask me about first semester. The reason for this post is that if you were one of the people that asked me about first semester, you know that my answer was one that went slightly like this "College is..uhh..well...amazing, difficult, confusing, etc." (among a few more words that completely conflict each other.) Now that I've had some time away from college, I've been able to process a little here and there.
First off, I was slightly nervous to go to college. For the obvious reasons, but one of the main reasons being was that I feared being bored with the academic aspect, as I was in high school. This isn't me trying to say I was a complete genius in high school, nor was I "above" the academic system by any means, but I was only truly challenged in high school a few times when it came to academics. I feared that if college was this way, then I would be bored, and wouldn't make myself go on into masters studies, nonetheless complete undergraduate studies. On the other hand, I feared that it would be far above my head and I wouldn't know what the heck was going on in any of my classes. Both extremes, I suppose. Within the first week, I found that being challenged at an appropriate level would not be an issue by any means. It was incredibly challenging. At times, it was over my head, therefore I absolutely loved it for the reason that it was a challenge, therefore I worked at it harder than I've worked at most things. I was spending a minimum of 3 hours/day studying. Absolutely LOVED it.
Then, there was finding the balance of working and being a student. Shouldn't be a problem, I mean, I had a minimum of one job all throughout high school, at one point I had four jobs. I soon remembered that high school was a breeze for the most part, so having a job was challenging. Manageable, but challenging.
Then, the social aspect. For those that know me, you know I'm a social introvert. I LOVEEE being around people, getting to know new people, and so on, but I need to be alone at times to recharge. Well, whenever you live in the dorms, there isn't much alone time to be had unless you go off campus to a coffee shop somewhere. (Of which I did most Sunday afternoons.) Not only that, but having to make new friends for the first time in YEARS. Like I said, I was born and raised in the same small town, so for the most part I knew everyone in my town. Luckily, I found a friend group fairly quickly that are some solid, driven, amazing Christian girls.
And the final big challenge, the spiritual aspect. Going to a private, liberal arts university would make spirituality incredibly easy, right? Well...that was the challenge. Being surrounded by Christianity, you feel as though you don't really have to work at it (at all, really), and, unfortunately, you don't. Then, as soon as things started to become a challenge for me, I realized how far I had strayed and how quickly I had done so. Well, luckily my amazing home church combined with some amazing professors/advisors/friends at school along with my harsh realization that I had to get my crap together at some point to be able to effectively apply my major someday (ministry) along with one of my incredible, brutally honest friends at school saying to me "alright, you have exactly 3 minutes to get your crap together." (This is our friendship), I got my crap together haha.
I have been home for about 2 weeks now, and while I have loved so much to be able to see my friends/family here, and being able to attend my home church, I am ready to be back home. Please, if you are reading this and are from Fort Scott, do not take offense to the fact that I consider Olathe my home. If anything, smile for the fact that I attend such an amazing Life-training facility (school) that I would consider it to be my home.
Final thing: I must thank my Fort Scott family (whether you are my adopted family, church family, or biological family) for being so supportive, and at times responding to my texts that went something along the lines of "I can't do this anymore!", telling me that not only I could continue to do it, but that I would. At times, a particular person in my life threatening to "hog tie you and take you back to college myself if you think about coming back to Fort Scott and staying." (you know who you are.)
Thanks so much to all of you. Realizing that a semester is complete, and I only have 7 more undergraduate semesters beyond this is hard to fathom, but I am so excited to continue my education, my "life training" and to continue to learn about myself, about others, and honestly, how to love. Whenever you are submerged into a culture of people/personalities that you are not used to, it teaches you some things. That, however, will be discussed in a future post.
First off, I was slightly nervous to go to college. For the obvious reasons, but one of the main reasons being was that I feared being bored with the academic aspect, as I was in high school. This isn't me trying to say I was a complete genius in high school, nor was I "above" the academic system by any means, but I was only truly challenged in high school a few times when it came to academics. I feared that if college was this way, then I would be bored, and wouldn't make myself go on into masters studies, nonetheless complete undergraduate studies. On the other hand, I feared that it would be far above my head and I wouldn't know what the heck was going on in any of my classes. Both extremes, I suppose. Within the first week, I found that being challenged at an appropriate level would not be an issue by any means. It was incredibly challenging. At times, it was over my head, therefore I absolutely loved it for the reason that it was a challenge, therefore I worked at it harder than I've worked at most things. I was spending a minimum of 3 hours/day studying. Absolutely LOVED it.
Then, there was finding the balance of working and being a student. Shouldn't be a problem, I mean, I had a minimum of one job all throughout high school, at one point I had four jobs. I soon remembered that high school was a breeze for the most part, so having a job was challenging. Manageable, but challenging.
Then, the social aspect. For those that know me, you know I'm a social introvert. I LOVEEE being around people, getting to know new people, and so on, but I need to be alone at times to recharge. Well, whenever you live in the dorms, there isn't much alone time to be had unless you go off campus to a coffee shop somewhere. (Of which I did most Sunday afternoons.) Not only that, but having to make new friends for the first time in YEARS. Like I said, I was born and raised in the same small town, so for the most part I knew everyone in my town. Luckily, I found a friend group fairly quickly that are some solid, driven, amazing Christian girls.
And the final big challenge, the spiritual aspect. Going to a private, liberal arts university would make spirituality incredibly easy, right? Well...that was the challenge. Being surrounded by Christianity, you feel as though you don't really have to work at it (at all, really), and, unfortunately, you don't. Then, as soon as things started to become a challenge for me, I realized how far I had strayed and how quickly I had done so. Well, luckily my amazing home church combined with some amazing professors/advisors/friends at school along with my harsh realization that I had to get my crap together at some point to be able to effectively apply my major someday (ministry) along with one of my incredible, brutally honest friends at school saying to me "alright, you have exactly 3 minutes to get your crap together." (This is our friendship), I got my crap together haha.
I have been home for about 2 weeks now, and while I have loved so much to be able to see my friends/family here, and being able to attend my home church, I am ready to be back home. Please, if you are reading this and are from Fort Scott, do not take offense to the fact that I consider Olathe my home. If anything, smile for the fact that I attend such an amazing Life-training facility (school) that I would consider it to be my home.
Final thing: I must thank my Fort Scott family (whether you are my adopted family, church family, or biological family) for being so supportive, and at times responding to my texts that went something along the lines of "I can't do this anymore!", telling me that not only I could continue to do it, but that I would. At times, a particular person in my life threatening to "hog tie you and take you back to college myself if you think about coming back to Fort Scott and staying." (you know who you are.)
Thanks so much to all of you. Realizing that a semester is complete, and I only have 7 more undergraduate semesters beyond this is hard to fathom, but I am so excited to continue my education, my "life training" and to continue to learn about myself, about others, and honestly, how to love. Whenever you are submerged into a culture of people/personalities that you are not used to, it teaches you some things. That, however, will be discussed in a future post.
Comments
Post a Comment