3 Things I Learned My Sophomore Year of College

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My sophomore year of college taught me a few things that I deemed were worth sharing. First, I learned that people are capable of changing. One of my flaws is judging people too quickly so when I form an opinion on someone, I usually keep it for a while. However, this year I learned that people are truly capable of transforming for the better. I knew a guy last year who was heavily involved in the college party scene and was always trying to selfishly beat other students in many areas of his life. However, after he went on this powerful retreat through my university, he completely changed. When people tell me they’ve changed, I usually don’t believe it because I believe that actions speak louder than words. However, I still vividly remember this guy calling me while I was on the train a few months ago. He thanked me for urging him to attend the retreat and said he he wanted to work on building more fulfilling friendships. The next day, this guy came up to me and gave me a hug. This was the first hug I have ever seen him give anyone on campus over the 15 months I’ve known him. Now I can say that this guy is one of my good friends; he will make you laugh without even trying to be funny and has such a big heart for others.

Another one of my friends also changed dramatically over this past year. Last year he was the biggest atheist I knew. I knew this guy was really smart, and wanted to serve his community, but he was missing God and his own faith. Just like my other friend, I urged him to go on a retreat. It was clear that when he came back, he began building his personal relationship with Jesus. This was seen in how he began treating his friends, the people he committed more time to, and him starting to lead a religious group on campus. These are just two recent examples that really stood out to me this year and proved to me that people do have the ability to change which I firmly doubted before.

I also learned that maturity comes in different forms. I used to think that people had to go through something that I went through in order to empathize with me. However, I do not think this is true anymore. I think that as people best attempt to live life fully then they will experience inevitable experiences in life such as triumphs, heartbreaks, failures, and more. As a result, people can still be very mature by having gone through a lot and not have necessarily lived through what I have. It’s impossible for everyone to go through the same experiences and I learned to accept that people can still offer wise advice and help me through life journey’s by pulling from their personal experiences.

Lastly, I learned what really makes experiences are not the activities themselves but rather the people that accompany us. I always thought I was getting fulfillment from fun outdoor adventure trips in college, volunteering, or other exciting experiences. However, I realized that what brought me true joy was the people who joined me in what I was doing. This epiphany along with currently being isolated from my friends, made me realized how blessed I am to have such a strong support system around me. Going on lively adventures will never be enjoyable if you go with people who you do not get along with. People are what drive the fulfillment in your experiences. I am so thankful for the amazing people around me that allow me to truly enjoy whatever I chose to pursue.


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