My Sophomore Year in a Nutshell.
What. A. Year. This was honestly the best and worst year of my life. I can confidently say that every single aspect of my life changed, so this is definitely a year that will not be forgotten. It all started with an end of an unhealthy relationship and change in friend groups, which was one of those moments where it was all good and bad at the same time. I just noticed towards the end of my winter vacation that I wasn’t happy with my friends, and I felt like I had to put in so much effort to be listened to, which caused a lot of conflict in my mind. I wasn't happy with the people I was friends with, but I couldn't decide whether or not having no friends would just be worse. After a few months, I would go to New York which ended up clearing everything up for me (which you can read about in my New York article). This made me realize that leaving the friends I had would be worth it in the long run, so that’s exactly what I did. I became independent, and focused a lot more on bettering myself. This ended up paying off tremendously. If I could ever give a piece of advice to anyone, it would be to get rid of the things that don't bring you happiness, even if it does include sacrificing something that you might not want to get rid of. It is always worth it, because, at the end of the day, everything we do revolves around doing things that result in our own happiness in the long run. Doing something that only provides an image of happiness for other people to see, rather than truly creating it for ourselves, doesn't benefit us in any way . I worked incredibly hard to get my grades higher, and I found out I had a passion for learning about art history. Something about it just sparked so much interest in my mind, which I hadn’t seen in any other class I had ever taken. It really lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders, knowing that there was finally something I was so interested in. I suddenly started doing so much better in that class, and was mesmerized by every new piece I learned. During this year, a friend also convinced me to do track and field. Joining the team made me realize that I actually was able to be good at what I do and I was able to set goals for myself. I made the varsity team, and I met some new people on the team who I looked up to and admired. I became extremely close with some of the people on that team, and I was starting to make friends that shared my interests and made me happy. I had an amazing track season, and I fell in love with the sport. Towards the end of the track season I also found a new hobby. I learned that I loved painting and creating art in general. Painting and writing became my number one stress relievers, and they both gave me a way to escape from the outside world while things were tough. This is so important to me, because I strongly believe in finding a balance between hard working mentalities and being able to take breaks and enjoy success. I find it so strange that if I were to go back in time and tell my freshman self that I experienced all this change, I would not believe it. I experienced a shift in focus and I took time to better myself, for myself, rather than focusing on what other people think of me, which is something that I did not even think to do last year. I honestly do think that I was put through the wringer this year, but out of every bad experience something good came out. Ending my summer relationship and leaving my old friends made me realize it’s okay to be alone sometimes. Taking a trip with people I wasn’t very close with caused me to change my entire perception on who I want to be and what I should focus on. Taking a class that I dreaded signing up for ended up with me falling in love with the subject and gave me something to be passionate about. Trying a new sport allowed me to meet new people who I adore to this day and made me realize I can do anything I set my mind to. I took a year for growth and sacrificed a lot of the toxic things in my life that I thought were good at the time. So at the end of the day, I look back at all of this and get to say that I am proud of who I’ve become and what I have accomplished. Who knows what will come next?
