College

This weekend a lot of our YL grads headed off for their freshmen year of college. As Daniel and I shared coffee and lunches with each of them over the past two weeks as a final farewell, I couldn't help but recount story after story of my initial impressions of college life and the years I spent at Mizzou. Now 6 years removed from school, I look back on those years with nothing but fondness. I've forgotten all the negatives. (I literally cannot remember what I would have disliked. Even the thought of class doesn't seem so bad, but I remember that I HATED going to class; I just can't remember why anymore.) I thought initially of moving into the dorm and the feelings I had as a freshman: the newness, the fear mixed with excitement, the independence, the optimism.

My freshman year seems to stand apart from the rest of my college experience. It seems so separate from my remaining 3 years spent at 8A Clarkson, my duplex home with a myriad of roommates over the years. When I think of college, it's the Clarkson years that come to mind. Ahh memories. The people, the silliness, the fun, the fast food, the late nights, the adventures, the boy next door who became my husband. I'm so glad I was able to share college with my future husband. It makes reliving all the old stories much more fun as we're able to share them because he was there right along with me through it all.

Having coffee with Maddie one of my YL girls made me super nostalgic and I found myself wishing I could go back and do it all again. I had the sentiment that if I knew then what I know now, I would have done it so much better. But it was the experience of those years that helped shape me into the person I am now. Without those circumstances I never would have gained what I know now. So if I apply the logic to my present reality, what will I say 6 years from now that "if I knew then what I know now"? That's the tricky part. I can't apply future wisdom to my current circumstances. It's the things I'm facing now that will help mold me into the person I am becoming. But what I wouldn't give for a little 34 year old, 6 years worth of wisdom to help get me through this present unknown.