Looking back just two years to the start of college, it is easy to see I have changed. A lot. Not only have I learned (as one would do in school), but I have also gained a new set of skills that I didn’t even know I could ever obtain. I grew in confidence. I embraced my geekiness and weirdness. I started liking exercise. I went skydiving and class 5 whitewater rafting. I started realizing the true joys in life aren’t always what you expect them to be.

Anyone who knew me pre/post college would 100% vouch for my change. My change for the better in my opinion. I honestly wouldn’t have replaced all the things I went through for anything, however rough or challenging they might have been at the time.

But, it wasn’t always like that. When I first started school, I was nervous. Heck, I was terrified. I was scared about anything and everything the typical college freshman would be scared about. Leaving my family, my friends, and my dogs. Creating a new identity for myself. Making friends. Learning in classes. Trying new things. Being alone. Being not alone.

I was terrified of change.

And, it was a slow, sometimes painful process, but somehow I did it. I got to where I am now. My world changed and I changed with it.

Looking back, I’m glad it happened. I’m glad that I was forced to deal with what I dealt with because without my “problems,” I wouldn’t be who I am today. I wouldn’t be a confident, geeky, book-loving, Jesus-searching, blog-writing woman and so much more.

So, I just want to remind you, reader, that although change is rough and horrible at times, it is necessary and freeing all the same. Everything is happening exactly as it is supposed to happen exactly when it is supposed to happen.