My Freshman Year

In the wise words of Carrie Bradshaw:

Milestones. 

In Ancient Greece stones were set up at each mile as a way to mark paths so that travelers would know how far they had run. In modern times we have metaphorical milestones to show how far we've come. To acknowledge momentous moments in our lives.

I’ve had a few big milestones in the past few years. From moving to a new city, graduating high school, interning in New York, moving again for college, and now successfully finishing my freshman year of college, I’ve been a busy girl.

Milestones are something to celebrate! They signify important events in our lives and celebrate our achievements.

Freshman year, like a typical college student was full of countless ups and downs. It was filled with numerous cookout runs, occasional all nighters, sporadic breakdowns, countless cries, and an equal number of laughs, frequent dance parties, spontaneous movie nights, and nightly pillow talks. Through this last year, I discovered more of who I am and who I want to be. I’ve been surrounded by some of the most motivating and inspirational people I know and I am proud to call many of them my best friends.

While my first and second semester were night and day, both of them offered me numerous lessons. First semester was consumed with me trying to learn the ropes (I swore I would never learn my way around) while juggling extra curriculars and a rigorous academic load. I spent a lot, too much, time in the library and while we did have fun, looking back I definitely didn’t set aside enough time for things other than schoolwork. I learned that as important as the grades are, the memories are what are going to last your lifetime.

Second semester is when I think I truly fell in love with college. I made it my New Year’s resolution to not spend as much time in the library to ensure I was getting enough time with friends to create memories! What took place my second semester was truly a dream.

My freshman year was truly everything I wanted and more. I have achieved more than I ever thought I could have and today I am ecstatic to celebrate this milestone!

A few of my favorite memories from the school year:

Move in day! A very bittersweet day.

One of our first adventures! We went to the J. Crew factory sale in Ashville, if you ever get the chance to go, you should definitely do it. There are some amazing deals!

First semester was filled with lots of studying. However this view always helped the boring paper writing and text book readings!

Brett Eldridge came to my school and played a concert in our amphitheater. I may have touched his hand.

My whole family came and visited me for family weekend! It was so fun to show them all around campus and introduce them to all my new friends. 

My sweet roommate came home with me over fall break and we went pumpkin picking!

One of my all time favorite things about Furman is that we are only about a 10 minute drive from the mountains. One fall Friday a few of us spontaneously decided to drive to Ashville to go on a hike!

College isn’t only about making new friends but keeping the old as well! 3 of my favorite people from home drove up with my mom. It was so special to show them around my new home and have them there with me.

The homecoming game may have been a little chilly but this is one of my favorite pictures of my roommate (and next year roommate too!)!

To celebrate the end of the semester we all went ice skating downtown!

I rang in the new year  in Raleigh with my friends from high school! We went downtown Raleigh (and froze our butts off!) and watched the acorn drop at midnight!

SECOND SEMESTER!

Soon after the beginning of second semester was BIDDAY! Probably one of my favorite memories from second semester.

This year we had an abundance of snow days! I wasn’t complaining! We had so much fun playing in the snow

My first Tridelt function! It was the day of the opening ceremony and the theme was games so 10 of us all dressed up as the Olympic rings!

The next day after our function was little big reveal! I had waited all week and after all the notes and clues I was SO excited to find out who my Big was!

My sweet little fam!

Another Snow day…..

Stroll is a huge dance competition we have at our school between all the sororities and fraternities. It’s so much fun to get all dressed up and root for your teams!

And then there was that day I met BJ Novack.

Over spring break my mom and I flew up to NYC to make a trip to visit my favorite city and to visit my Aunt who lives there. While we were there I got to visit the Lilly Pulitzer showroom and see all the upcoming collections!

I also got to meet up with Carly from The CollegePrepster and have coffee with her!

INITATION! Officially a Delta Delta Delta! 

My sweet grandbig and I! I also received my Jersey at initiation!

Carolina Cup was a blast! The weather was suppose to be terrible but it turned out to be perfect!

I think it’s safe to say that I spent half of my second semester in an eno.

My formal!

As time went on, I seemed to fall in love with my school more and more.

Charleston for my friend's fraternity formal!

 For my birthday a huge group of my friends surprised me at my favorite ice cream shop!

Our last big bang. We decided to hit the town and go get ice cream together before summer. It was sad to say bye to all my amazing new friends. I’m already counting down the days until I move back in!

How was your school year?

Remember,

xoxo

Shannon