Two years ago, I drove to college terrified of leaving behind the only version of myself I had ever known. As I turned down the familiar pavement of Highway 25 to make my way to the edge of my hometown in Flowood, Mississippi, I tried my best to stir up the anticipation and excitement I knew I should be feeling.

But it was not there; instead, fear and dread flooded every part of my brain. Gripping the wheel with white knuckles, I wrestled with the thought: who will I become after I leave behind everything I have ever known?

Two years later, I am halfway through college and unrecognizable to my high school self. I have changed my major once, changed career paths five times, joined six new clubs, and met countless new people to love.

College is the so-called “land of possibilities.” Stuck somewhere between childhood and “the real world,” it is a brief moment where your entire life is before you and, for the first time, you have the freedom to decide what happens.

Orientation will pass by, classes will start and you will find yourself in a sea of strangers to whom you have to repeat your name, major and hometown countless times. Daunting? Yes. However, here lies the possibility that college is so famous for: you have the chance to become whoever you want to be.

In high school, archetypes and stereotypes govern your day-to-day life. Everyone takes the same classes; therefore, how you are known by one person dictates how you are known by all. Nicknames and stories follow you down linoleum-tiled hallways, only escapable by moving to a different school, where new nicknames and stereotypes will eventually form. 

Then comes college. On your first day of classes, you will have the bliss of someone asking you what your name is. Yes, the icebreakers are awkward, but the liberation of painting your own picture of yourself is unrivaled. When they ask for a fun fact, you do not have to share the embarrassing story from when you were 14. You can share whatever fact of your life you want with someone who knows nothing about you.

Over time, the strange faces you see behind desks and between classes will become a familiar sight in the rhythm of your life. Icebreaker groups will develop into study groups, then into late-night ice cream runs and weekend trips where you laugh until your stomach hurts. You will eventually learn about their pasts, and in sharing yours, you will find it is not as heavy as it once seemed. They will likely become your closest friends, and they will love you for who you are, not who you have been.

You may finish your first semester of classes and discover that you have no passion for the major you chose. You can change it. In fact, most people do. It does not matter that your parents are both orthodontists or that your teachers all told you that accounting would suit you best. Like most things in college, it is your decision. You are free to pursue the major that excites and intrigues you.

Then, summer will come. You will wave goodbye to your new friends. You will pack up your things and turn in your room key. Coming out of a daze, you will realize that the year is over and you have changed, whether you realized it was happening or not.

Whatever your college experience may be, do not devalue the significance of a fresh start. In a place free of expectations based on history, you can reinvent yourself into the person you have always dreamed of becoming. The mistakes or regrets of your past can feel heavy, but here you are free to change into the person you have always wanted to be. This is your chance to grow, and you should face it with excitement.

College is your coming-of-age movie. Looking back, I see now that freshman year is a cliff of possibility. Behind you lies the safety of your old life, stuck in the expectations and stereotypes created by external pressures. The water below holds the person you have always dreamed of becoming.

As you face this pivotal moment, I suggest that you linger for only a moment to say a brief goodbye to your old life. However, do not wait too long. Dive into the becoming of your new self that lies below with an open heart and an open mind.