At the completion of my second year of college, there seems to be a great deal of introspection and retrospection on the year that has come and gone so quickly. I'm in the process of moving out of my room right now and while the process is tedious and tiring, I have come across a number of things that have reminded me of the good, the bad, and the apparently "ugly" things that have occurred to me through the course of this year.

It is truly amazing how the things that surround us really tell a great deal of the story about our lives. The small things on my desk that have gone practically unnoticed give me a great deal of pleasure as I put them away when packing because of the memories associated with them.

College really seems to be much smaller than the sum of its parts. It goes by terrificly quickly, but while you're going through it, it tends to be excruciatingly slow. Each day presents itself with new challenges, and you have to learn how to cope with the changes and the things that stay the same.

Although I have typically surrounded myself with similar people, similar situations, and similarness all around me, my Sophomore year has been entirely different to my Freshman year. I think that is part of the college experience. Dealing with the constant change and figuring out what you enjoy.

I remember driving to the University of Michigan with my mother, just before I was going to move into Mosher-Jordan hall for my Freshman year. We had just turned onto the I-94, and we were surrounded by traffic. We were practically at a stand still, and this made me think about and reflect back on high school and look forward into the future. I thought aloud to my mother, "I wonder what I'm going to be thinking when I'm a senior in college."

I noticed that at the end of my High School career, my circles of friends, my ideas about the world, what I knew about myself, were radically different than they were originally when entering High School. I still felt like the same person, however, but I realized how change was a natural course of events in life.

Now, here I am half way through my college life. It has gone far too quickly, and I feel like I need to grab hold of it in fear of losing it too fast. Looking back on my first days here at college, I can say with utmost certainty that my life has been altered significantly, but at the core of me, just like when first entering college, is still more intact than ever. If anything, I know a great deal more about myself, and have spent most of this semester trying to become more conscious of who I am.

I think this is the essence of the college experience. Learning about who you are. So much has happened, and I know, so much is more to come. For those of you ending up your semester, or coming to the close of the school year, take a moment and reflect upon your experiences.

You are where you are for a reason. Look where you are now, look where you have come from, and consider where you would like to head. With this, you can never go wrong. As Hoynes said, "Good luck and Enjoy!"

This post was originally written by Tyrone Schiff
University of Michigan · Organizational Studies · 25 Apr 2007