When I first came to Suffolk, I was 17 and so scared. I knew I had the capability to do great, but as for the social aspect, I was terrified. I skipped kindergarten, so every year in school I was always a year younger than everyone else, so I was nervous that my age would put me at a disadvantage in the making friends department. I only had my best friend, who was going to college all the way in New Hampshire. 

Initially, I felt lonely and anxious about being all by myself in college. It was a lot for me to get a hold of at first. When I arrived on my first day, I was shaking. But after going through the whole day, I was fine. 

I was so consumed by self-doubt before the semester even started. As time went on, I had some difficulty at first learning to better manage my time and taking care of myself. 

Balancing my schoolwork and my job was starting to take a toll on my mental health. I tend to put my schoolwork above taking care of myself, and I didn’t really know how to. I felt like I was functioning on autopilot. 

But then I met some great friends that helped me navigate my college experience, especially when I lost my grandmother right before the spring semester started. It was really difficult to navigate the feeling of grief and concentrate on my schoolwork at the same time. But thanks to my new friends and understanding professors, I eventually learned to handle everything.

During my time at Suffolk, I learned to become a better journalist through my classes and especially during my time at Compass. With time, I have become more confident in my writing and journalistic abilities. My next step after graduation is to continue studying journalism at Stony Brook University, and when I’m there, I’ll take all my wisdom from Suffolk with me.