It seems like a distant dream when I think of the girl I used to be when I arrived at IU on my first day. Though I still am similar in a lot of aspects, IU has changed me in ways I couldn't imagine. Being an international student who is more than 10,000 miles away from home, I was forced to become more independent. The past two years have made me grow more than any other time period in my life.
Just to give you a brief idea, in a little over two years here are the kinds of activities I've engaged myself at IU:I decided to pursue two vastly different majors in Human Resources and Music, managed to get into two competitive student organizations, went on some amazing vacations with friends during spring break to California and Florida, worked in the RPS on-campus dining- cleaning tables and serving people food, traveled to several different countries, such as Germany and France, to meet my family during Thanksgiving, took the initiative to learn how to drive, bought my first car, studied abroad in Ireland and England, had various recitals and ensemble performances in voice, took multiple summer classes to stay ahead, and finally, found an internship all by myself in California for the upcoming summer in 2016.
I have been able to take up opportunities that I normally wouldn't take, and have learnt how to autonomously live by myself. Even if I don't end up staying in the country after college, I will never forget how much I have gained from this experience and understood what I am capable of. The girl I was when I came here two years ago was used to having her laundry done for her, and had hired help who was ready to wait on her hand and foot. I have also met so many different kinds of people who have always grown up to be independent and that has rubbed off on me to make it a point to learn from them.
There is no doubt that it was an easier life back home; and I'm sure that you, while reading this, are wondering why I would have ever wanted to leave that lifestyle. However, there is not single day that goes by where I regret coming so far away from home, or am not thankful to have seen more of the real world in merely two short years.