Reflections after my Freshman Year...

Things I’ve learned during my first year of college –

1. I never actually knew what it meant to be busy until this year.

2. Children are an incredible gift from God and can teach us so much about unconditional love and simplicity. So often, a glimpse into the world of crayons, playgrounds, and dress-up can help us to take a step backward and reevaluate our grown-up life.

3. The best ideas come at 3 in the morning.

4. I function best when I am trying to help others. I am willing to do things for other people that I would be incredibly intimidated to do on my own.

5. Never trust an iPod voice recorder to ACTUALLY be recording your interviews.

6. Little things are so much less important than I ever could have imagined. In the grand scheme of things, does it actually matter if someone is not speaking to you? I’ve learned only to care about the opinions of those who are dear to me.

7. Dining halls = death.

8. Emotional independence is an incredible thing, never to be undervalued and something that I will always strive after, even when (if?) I am dating someone again.

9. Coffee is an efficient sleep replacer. A Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte = approximately 2 hours of sleep.

10. I really, truly love acting.

11. The friends that you love the most are those who love you in spite of yourself.

12. “Death”, “brains,” “there is NO way of knowing,” and “who DOES that?” are all extremely acceptable exclamations.

13. I would much rather write a 15 page paper than take a final.

14. It’s ok to question your faith. Or, at least, it’s better than the alternative – ignoring it. God will see you through your questions and meet you at the other side.

15. The world is SO BIG and I want to see ALL of it.

16. I function best when my classes start at 9 AM.

17. Worship is an incredibly important part of my relationship with God. I have difficulties when I have to pick a good worship experience or a good sermon – but RUF takes care of the good sermon bit for me, which is useful.

18. 1-minute microwaveable rice can, in fact, sustain you for days at a time.

19. I have an unshakeable work ethic and propensity for studying. It can get me through classes which I have no business taking. That, and that alone, is what keeps me in a school this good.

20. Intellectual stimulation is the best thing ever!

21. Vacuuming is an important thing to remember to do.

22. I am more passionate than even I thought I was, more goal-oriented, and more driven. This can make it difficult to understand people who are less driven, less sure than I am. But, this makes me so sure of what I want to do that I would tear down brick walls with my fingernails if that was what would get me there.

23. RTA Trip Planner is an irreplaceable thing. With it, I can go anywhere and do anything.

24. I can take any crisis in stride, even in the middle of night. (Case in point: my roommate woke me up with the words: ‘Jackie, there’s a fire, we need to leave.’ I hopped up, threw on a sweatshirt and shoes, and ran out the door before I even woke up.)

25. Jumping up and down, dancing, and singing loudly are all things that are good for the soul, especially after finals.

26. Life is an adventure. Never expect for things to be smooth and normal, because then it would just get boring. Living on the edge of insanity is better than being bored.

27. I look at things that other people declare absolutely impossible and proceed to go and prove them wrong.

28. I love, love, love, love working with video and audio. I love messing with the levels, I love cutting things together and making the quarter-milliseconds line up exactly.

29. Every single person has a big, black secret or problem in their life- something that makes them who they are, something that hurts them. You think life isn’t like that, that it’s only that way in books, but actually, that is not true at all. No one on this planet is completely whole and undamaged. This world needs a Savior so much.

30. I am talented at learning languages!

31. I will be mean to service personnel if it means I can get what I want. (I think I come by that one honestly… :))

32. I treasure my relationships with my parents and my siblings and the wonderful childhood and adolescence I had beyond almost anything else in this world.

33. My life is not made up of ONE defining moment, but rather hundreds of them. Thus, any single event can do no more than slightly steer the course of my life. Nothing can absolutely derail me.

34. There is no challenge in life that is so big that I cannot overcome it with God’s help. Nothing that the world can throw at me will do more than momentarily distract me from living my life to the best of my abilities, glorifying God in all that I do. I can recover from anything, go anywhere, attain any goal in life. I have faith that God could use me to change my little corner of the world.