I never in my life thought I would one day have to face the reality of being by myself. This year, I’ve had to face that reality and I’m not going to lie, it has been an extremely tough thing to face. Especially if you are me and you’re not used to it.

In college, I’ve had to make up my own routine to follow with absolutely no one glued to my side all day. When to go to the bathroom. Doing classwork assignments on my own and the toughest thing: asking for help when needed a using my self advocacy skills a lot more then normal. This has been hard, but I’ve pushed through despite all the ups and downs.

They say the first year of college is always tough to get through- they weren’t kidding. Although I have learned a lot about myself this year, I’ve had a tough run being the new student. I’ve changed since the beginning of the year for the good like everyone said, and that makes me happy.

Another had thing in my routine: Learning to deal with stressful situations. This is the HARDEST thing ever because I have anxiety and in a stressful situation when it starts acting up and getting the best of you, it’s hard to get back on track and redeem yourself sometimes depending on what the situation is.

With my first year of college over,  I have to say I’m proud of everything I’ve done this year. I did my first office working job, figured out what I’ll be doing after I graduate from my collage transition program in two years, and am getting a lot better at advocating for myself. Next Wednesday, I can officially say I made it through my first and the toughest year of being the new student, and I will stand tall and proud.

About my office working job, I just found out last week that my employer who I did the internship for has requested me back next year, there will also be new students and college student coming to work where I am. I have been given the honor of serving as a mentor to all of them next year. I sure am proud of that. That’s probably the biggest honor I have ever been given.

So yes, while sticking to a routine can be hard, it can also have so many rewards.

So, if your struggling to stick to one right now, especially in college, remember that it will give you so many reward and change you for the better like it has me.  All your hard work will pay off in the long run, I promise.

I wish those first-year incoming college students coming in this year or going to college this coming year the best of luck. This year will be hard, but I know you will all do great. At the end of the year, be proud of everything you’ve done and accomplished. Be proud of the routine you’ve set for yourselves all on your own to help you though the next four years. At the end, you will be able to feel proud, just like me, because you made it through the hardest year of being the new college student.