Good Day to All Readers,
The high you were on
from all the presents, all the praise, all the parties, and all the speeches
about how much potential you have has just died down completely. You graduated from high school. You graduated almost two years ago
actually. You even finished your first
year of college. You met so many great
people you feel like a socializing genius.
Now you are a sophomore and you are looking 20 right in the face. Where did the time go you may ask yourself
smiling and shaking your head in nostalgic satisfaction. But wait, you have an even better
question. Where did the people go?
You look around your
well stocked dorm, full of essentials that only a second year student would
specially know they need, and then you go from satisfied, to a little puzzled,
to downright confounded. What?
For those of you who
don’t know, the sophomore slump affects students every year. I just conveniently happened to fall into
that category, and as a result, I get to offer personal advice on it.
It all started a few hours
after my parents left to drive back home after helping me unpack for my second
year of college. I was so at ease
packing, and ordering books off of Amazon.
“Please, I got this. I know what
I’m doing,” was my attitude for the majority of the summer. I did not even start packing until about four
days before I left.
I have lived here for
32 weeks. I know what to expect. I was a little over assured about a very
weighty aspect of the revered and beloved college experience…socialization.
During my first year of
college, several things were different. One, I lived on a “community floor”
which means we all had to apply to live on this specialized floor with the
desire to continually pursue and partake in the major aspect that we had in
common. Ours was community service. Two, I was in a freshman mentoring program
where I was able to learn the ins-and-outs of college from willing and helpful
upperclassmen. And finally, three, everyone is extra nice to freshman, at least
at my university they are.
I was now a sophomore
and I just knew something was different.
I just could not put my finger on it until one of the biggest days of the
semester so came, Game Day.
I am not a football
expert, but I love football games, and have developed a great sense of school
spirit and support of all of my schools’, previous and present sports
teams. I think it all started when I
joined the pom squad in high school, but that’s another story.
Anyway, game day had
arrived and guess who did not have anyone to go with.
I do not recall games
starting this early last year, and I don’t think they did. It was the first weekend of school, and
concurrently Labor Day weekend. A lot of
my friends went home, and the others, I never really went to games with. Besides, it was still extremely early in the
school year, and I did not want to overwhelm anyone who may have still been
settling in. I usually went with my
floormmates, who traveled to games in masses, and made sure everyone knew that a
group or two was going over to the stadium.
My floormmates were
mostly freshman who had spent days together in orientation, and upperclassmen
with set groups of friends. I thought about
asking several people if I could tag along with them but only ended up asking
one person. She was home for the
weekend. School colors filled the
streets leading to my school’s football stadium, faces were painted, pictures
were taken, tickets were collected, cheerleaders cheered, the football players
made their huge, grand season opening appearance, and I was not there to see any
of it.
Before the little
violinist in the back of your brain begins to play, stop. I want you to know that as an introvert, and
a somewhat demure girl, this was a learning experience for me. It allowed to realize several things about
myself. I won’t tell you those things
because they are different for everyone.
It was a defining moment. No,
this is not a college essay entrance exam, it is a part of my real life.
I hope that this
encourages you by demonstrating that hard times really do have a purpose. I also hope that it helps you to keep the
next person in mind when you’re having a good time. This makes me want to ensure that I always
treat others as generously as possible, when I’m having a good time, and even
when I’m not, so that they can have a good time too.
With New Self-Revelations,
Unashamed Introvertish
Girl
p.s. Don’t worry guys; I felt this way only for the first few weeks.
It gets better, but I’ll tell you about that later.
Stay tuned for
Track#4. It’s called Remember Me.
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