When I first sat down to write this, I naturally began reminiscing about my four years at Sacred Heart. As I thought back, I realized how unconventional my four years were because of how lonely I felt in my first two years.
As someone with a very shy and awkward personality, I have always struggled with making friends. It often takes me some time to become comfortable opening up to others. So as you could imagine, coming to college was an extremely intimidating experience for me.
I made a few friends in those first two years, but they did not last. The one close friend I made my freshman year transferred out. Then, in sophomore year, the girls I lived with turned out not being the friends I thought they were. It led me to make the decision to be fully remote for the spring semester.
That became a pretty dark period in my life. My first two years became tainted by those failed friendships, which made me scared to return to Sacred Heart at all.
But I did not want to give up.
During those final days leading up to moving in for junior year, I was almost as nervous as when I moved in as a freshman two years prior. I felt like I was starting my college years over from scratch. I also was living with three girls I did not know very well, who were good friends and had all lived together before.
I soon realized there was nothing to be nervous about. Those three girls I was living with were three of the kindest, friendliest, and most genuine people I have ever met. They quickly became the friends I never thought I’d make in college because they didn’t view me as just their fourth roommate but as a new friend. I could sense that they wanted to get to know me and spend time with me, which made it easier for me to open up. It was different, and unlike any other friendships I had before.
They helped turn my final two years at Sacred Heart into two of the best years of my life. And I could not be more grateful.
It also gave me the confidence to get involved on campus and be open to trying new things, like joining the Spectrum board and discovering a passion for writing about sports.
If I could go back and have a chat with my then 18-year-old self, I’d tell her everything will turn out fine. I’d tell her you’ll find a group of girls who would make it so difficult to leave after graduation and not be able to see every day.
I’d also leave her with one piece of advice; don’t hesitate to put yourself out there and open up. Because if you do, you’ll feel a lot less lonely and a little more loved.
