NEARLY two years ago when I first arrived at U.Va., I was not thinking about how I was attending the best public university in the nation, or that I was in the best city in the nation in which to live, according to Frommer's. No, my mind dwelled firmly on the fact that my life had changed in a way that I had never experienced before. For the first two months of college, I truly felt as if it was something akin to summer camp and that eventually my parents would come pick me up and everything would go back to the way that it was before. With this thought came the realization that everything had indeed changed. I was determined to make it change for the better.
For those of us who have not moved around our entire lives, going to college is one of the biggest paradigm shifts that we can encounter at this young age. I had certainly stayed away from home before and I was physically prepared in every capacity, but perhaps what took me several months to learn my first year was that everyone was in the same boat that I was. Every person in the incoming class will experience this moment of change in some way or another.
Going to college presents the unique opportunity to re-invent yourself. Even for those who are coming from a school that sends many grads to U.Va., as I did, have the opportunity to change who they are. There is a niche for everyone here. The basic rules of high school do not apply any longer. You are going from seniors at the top of the tree to first years (not "freshmen," remember)
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