After graduation, I couldn’t believe that it was finally over, that I no longer have to go back to high school anymore.  Now, the only thing that I have to look forward to, is the next chapter of my life. When Sara was working during the summer and packing everything for college, it reminded me when I was doing the exact same thing as her. working, packing, and spending time with my loved ones. I thought that I would probably not enjoy college due to not having friends there or not knowing what I really wanted to major in. As getting closer to move in day, everything felt quicker. My mom and brother helped me with setting up everything that was needed for when the day came.

Lancer days were definitely rough since we were busy all day for 4 days in a row. The peer mentors were very helpful with everything as they tried their best in helping us feel more comfortable with the new change. I was able to learn more about the school, how to get to my classes, the type of school resources available for me to use when it is needed. Also, giving us as much advice as they can on how we can succeed in school helped me feel more confident about myself.

In my opinion Sara had a more complicated experience as she went to a school way farther away from home, away from her best friends, who she couldn’t see them on weekends. Now she is starting a new chapter on her own, with a whole new environment. Her being nervous but not scared to say good bye to everything, it really reflected the way I felt. Even though I am still close to home, I was still nervous, but so ready to move on, to live a new experience, and most important, to become more independent.

After I graduated high school I was super busy. I went to graduation parties like Sarah did. I spent a lot of time working during the summer and cherishing my last couple of months with my best friends. One thing I didn’t do was get into a relationship before I left for college because I know long distance was something I couldn’t handle. Sarah did get into a relationship and I am interested to see how that will turn out.  I did a lot of college preparation starting in May, unlike Sarah who seemed to do everything last minute. She also didn’t seem thrilled about college. On the other hand, I was so anxious to go to college all summer long. The idea of a new beginning in a new place with new people sounded so refreshing and so far, it has been.

When I moved in, I had already met my roommate prior. We met through one of the Longwood Instagram pages and planned to see each other in June. When we met in person for the first time we instantly clicked. When Sarah moved in she didn’t know her roommate and I can’t imagine how nerve racking that could’ve been for her. Just like Sarah, my first few days on campus were spent going to presentations that were mandatory. Sarah seems very unprepared, she had no clue that she had an email for school. My first week of classes was pretty enjoyable. Although, I did struggle in my language class like Sarah was in the beginning. My face looked the way hers did when she was in French.

In comparison to Sarah, from what I have read, her and I seem quite different. She seems to procrastinate things, which I hate doing. She also seems slightly introverted and I happen to be an extrovert. So far, I like her roommate, and maybe she can bring her out of her shell a little bit. Sarah did just meet Liz’s friend and they seemed to get along well. Like I said earlier I am interested to see where her relationship goes with Ben. I really like this book from what I have read so far.

While reading Freshman Year by Sarah Mai, I realized that the story within resonated very much with my own experiences. The summer before moving to college was filled with friend hangouts, family time, and work. Sarah’s portrayal of the average teenage mindset was very well represented and overall coincided with most people I know, including myself. The author implies that moving away can be a very difficult situation to most and really highlights the importance of spending as much time with those you care for before the change occurs. I connected with this text in the social aspect, leading me to believe that most experiences can be universal.

I spent every free second of my week hanging out with my best friends and making unforgettable memories before heading off to college. Similar to Sarah, I chose to spend more time with my friends and family than shopping for the items I needed when the time came. I realized after the fact that doing so stressed me out a million times more, I am now more cautious as to when I decide to plan things. Sarah appeared to spend more time with her friends than her family, whereas I spent most of my nights with my family. I managed my time so I could see my friends most days, as well as eat dinner and converse with my family every night. I am thankful I did so, college would be extremely difficult if I did not have my family by my side.

Page 14 of Freshman Year portrays Sarah working non-stop from June to July. I had an extremely similar experience with my summer job as a Shift Leader at Dairy Queen. Looking back, having this summer job taught me incredible time management skills which I brought with me to college. I appreciated the boss-like qualities I gained, I am now able to be more forward with people and ultimately engage in conversations in a way that benefits my talking skills. Sarah is drawn out to be more of a dedicated worker, which I compare very much with myself. Being a shift leader raised the stakes unquestionably high and I was given little to no slack. This skill is also extremely useful and upon reflection, helped me a tremendous amount when it came to doing my schoolwork.

Overall, Sarah and I had very similar experiences the summer before heading to college. Hanging out with friends and family while also managing to work full-time assisted greatly with my time-management and my friendliness. The summer before college was a very cannon event, setting up the stage for what my future would be like when I left. While reading the book, I made connections with Sarah’s dialogue as to her portrayed emotions. I only varied from her when it came to spending more time with my family rather than friends, which I feel was more important for me.

Works Cited:

Mai, S. (2024). Freshman Year. Little, Brown and Company N.Y. and Boston.

Dear Future Me,

If you’re reading this, it means you survived four years at Longwood. Right now I’m just getting started, and honestly, I’m nervous, but also kind of excited. It has been years since I was in college, and I have forgotten all the rules of writing a research paper, using APA, or MLA. Hopefully, by now, you’re on the path to being a forensic accountant. Maybe you’re with the FBI or IRS… or maybe you decided to go after running a bank, or running your business. Who knows.

I really hope you made it through all those hard classes. Accounting isn’t exactly easy, and I want you to prove to yourself that you could do it. Hopefully, you landed at least one good internship—maybe with a government office or a bank—just so you could see what the real work feels like. I also hope you figured out how to manage your time better (because right now that’s not my strength, let’s be real).

I hope you got involved, joined a club or two, and found people you vibe with. Maybe you even tried out a leadership role, if you could squeeze in the time, because it would be good for you. I want you to have gone to events, met people, and made long-lasting friends. Dont be afraid to raise your hand and answer your Professor’s question, even if you get it wrong. Hopefully, you found mentors who pushed you a little further than you thought you could go.

But I don’t want you to only think about grades. I want you to have fun too. Go to games, laugh with friends, walk the High Bridge, maybe just hang outside and enjoy being in the moment. These years should be more than stress and late nights.

More than anything, I hope you’re proud of yourself. I want you to feel stronger and more confident than I feel right now. Even if stuff turned out differently than you pictured, I hope you kept moving forward and stayed true to yourself.

So… did you make it? Are you with the FBI, the IRS, or already running your own thing? 

– Me, at the start

Dear Future Nina,

I would like to start this letter off by asking about if we stayed at Longwood or transferred to the university near our house. If not, what made you decide to stay. Most of my thoughts about the future are just questions about who and where I will be.  Another thing I know we thought about is switching our major. If we did, which major did we end up deciding on? 4 years from now I will have already graduated and be in the workforce.

I know that one of our main goals as of now is to just make it through freshmen year with A’s and B’s, so I hope we were able to do accomplish it. I know I’m capable to achieve my dreams, so I don’t doubt graduating. I found out statistics is a class that psychology majors are required to take so I really hope we’re able to make it through that without an F.

Did you find people who want to be friends with us for us? I was hoping to join clubs and find organizations that I’m not only interested in but passionate about. Are there people who look up to us and what we accomplished at Longwood? Did we become closer to anyone from our floor?

What career path did we end up deciding on through the course of our journey through Longwood. I know that we really wanted to be an accountant but won’t go for it. Did we end up finding a career through one of our classes? My dream job after an accountant is just working remotely, so did we find anything like that, or did we decide to work in person instead? My last question is if we found a home at Longwood instead of going home every weekend like we currently are.