Now that I’m in my senior year, nearing the end, it’s made me think about the years preceding, and how my life has changed for the better even if everything hadn’t been according to plan. Strange almost, to look back at myself and realize yes, my major and career, and every meeting in between had been different than what I imagined, but there are no regrets. In fact, I’m happy to be here where I am, and happy to be able to write about my thoughts and experiences.

Being an accounting major, my personality had always been one where I had to plan everything out to the time and date, and anything deviating from it seemed uneasy. I imagined myself studying abroad and seeing new countries and sights, photos to record every moment, and growing from the experience. Perhaps I had been naive, but I thought that was the way to truly expand and grow during college. Raised in Frederick, it seemed so small compared to the world, and I hadn’t given much thought to the little details that made up my hometown, always looking outwards and to the beyond, to places unfamiliar and dreamt of.

Instead of studying abroad, I was able to realize through my college career that no, not everything to be learned is outside of one’s home, outside of what is familiar and nostalgic. The USG campus in particular, in a little corner of the world, subtle in a way you might miss it for the larger campuses, is a wonderful example. After exams, it’s the hours at the Green Grove Cafe with the new friends you’ve made on campus, the shared rooms at the Priddy Library with doodles on the whiteboard when procrastination settles in like an old friend. Maybe it was growing older, or the experiences of transitioning from community college, but I’ve realized it was the little things that matter in the end, that stick with us in the form of memories. USG encompasses that more than larger campuses I believe, my junior year having been a spectacular one with so many memories. Though this campus may feel small, it’s dense with excitement and events in store for all students. Good luck to everyone!