Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year?

Three and a half weeks. 25 days to be exact.

I still haven't wrapped my mind around the fact that that is all the longer that stands between me and summer vacation, the start of my junior year, the end of my sophomore year. Part of me looks back over the last eight months and it feels like forever ago I started my first day of classes as a veteran. Another, bigger, part of me finds it hard to believe that my life has changed so much in such a short time.

"There are years that ask questions, and years that answer." - Zora Neale Hurston

I happened upon this quote recently, and it genuinely struck a chord with me. Coming into college as a freshman, people told me time and time again that your sophomore is the worst year. It seems to be a common theme, I mean Fall Out Boy even wrote a song about it. "Sophomore slump, or comeback of the year?" is the unspoken question posed to myself, and my peers, by life.

Life asked me this question over and over again this year. At some points I felt like I had the answer, whichever end of the spectrum it may have been. Most of the time though, I was floundering, struggling just to keep my head above water. I didn't have time to think let alone ponder how my life was going. Now that I have time to sit back and look at all that has happened, put the whirlwind on replay in slow motion, I think I have my answer.

School always sucks. There are no if's, and's, or but's about it. Homework is time consuming, studying makes us want to stab our eyes out, and many a breakdown has been had over the terror of checking an exam grade on Blackboard. With that being said, this year has been the least painful of all academically for me. I've finally found a major and subject matter I love in Political Science, and feel like I'm finally heading in the right direction.

I have made some of the greatest friends a girl could ever ask for, and in some of the most unlikely of places. I got two of the greatest littles in all of the land, and had the privilege of being a mentor to our new fall pledge class. I moved back in with my original college roommate, and have been blessed with a house full of exciting moments and loving arms when I need a shoulder to cry on. With that being said, I've grown apart from friends I swore I would always be close to. I'll be the first to admit that I've had a rough patch or two with my sorority. At the end of the day (year) though, I've never been more proud to wear Kappa Delta letters, or to have the people in my life that I do - whether they came as a lesson or a blessing.

Love in a college town is like none other, and this year was no exception for me. I was blessed to have two men come into my life over the past year, each bringing a lesson I needed to learn - ready or not. I've been both the heartbreaker and heartbroken, and it changed me more than I ever expected. I learned what it is to open your heart to someone, and how hard it is to break theirs because you know that you aren't what they need. I was shown what I thought was true love, then felt the pain of having it ripped away from me through a series of distasteful lies. I was broken in the exact way I needed to find myself, and for that I am could not be more thankful.

I started this blog back in August just for my own sanity, and have been amazed to watch it grow. The feeling I get when people tell me that they love hearing what I have to say is indescribable, and I feel so lucky to have the chance to change even just my own small corner of the world.

I have come so far mentally, spiritually, and more than anything - emotionally. I've finally accepted that when one door opens, there is another opening somewhere out there. I've come to realize good things don't come to those who wait, they are found by those who work for them. I wake up in the morning thankful for the sunshine coming through my window, thankful for the chance to stand and fight for another day. So, as I sit here and think about my sophomore year, I think I have my answer...

What started out to be a sophomore slump has turned into the comeback of the year.