So I just finished with my 3rd New Student Orientation. This whole week, I have been reliving the last two NSO's and realizing how much I have changed.
Fall NSO 2011
I was a Freshman in college. If I am being quite honest, I was completely homesick. I remember the first night, I left the Housing party early and went back to cry. The first day of NSO, I came back from the activities for dinner with my parents and started crying the moment I got into the car. Reflecting back, I was a complete baby. The days that followed are a complete blur. I remember meeting so many people and doing so many things and being just completely and utterly exhausted. So that was my first NSO. It was hard. It was crazy. It really was not the best experience.
Fall NSO 2012
So now I was a Sophomore in college. I had a year of experience under my belt. I was a Freshman Mentor and I was determined to make so that they would not have the kind of experience that I did. I wanted to make sure that I was observing as much as I could and noticing if there was a person like me in my group. Looking back, I still was completely different. I had just gone through a week of training for a job that I felt completely unqualified for. I was nervous. I had to talk with complete strangers and connect with them. How could I, me, Amy, do that? My heart was pounding out of my chest, but I made it through. I was again utterly exhausted, but it was a much better experience.
Fall NSO 2013
I am now in my Junior year. I was once again entering NSO as a Freshman Mentor. To be honest, I was a lot more exited for this NSO. Before going into details, I would like to again reflect on how much I changed this year....
Being a mentor really has changed me. I am a completely different person than I was a year ago, but I am me. The real me. I have always been scared of people judging me for who I am. In high school, I lost a handful of friends through different experiences and I just attributed it to me. I thought it was my fault. So coming to college, I hid my real self from the world. I wanted to be the person that everyone expected me to be- a person that people would like. But you know what? I still lost a lot of friends. Mentoring has taught me that it is okay to be myself. There are people who like me for me out there. I don't need to be fake. I have made some of my best friends from Freshman Mentoring. I am completely grateful for the experiences that I have had this last year. I can honestly say that I am able to be myself wherever I go. Is this always a good thing? No. But I am a lot happier being myself. This is the change that has happened in my life.
So now back to NSO:
I had the best group of students! I only had one Y-group so I felt like I connected with them a lot better instead of running between two different ones. But seriously, they were AMAZING!!
However, I was stupid and threw a work party the night before NSO and only got 12 hours of sleep over the course of three days. But NSO was amazing. I got 3 free t-shirts- sorry that is random, but I was super excited. I got to spend 24.5 hours with my students and begin building relationships. I am pumped up for the semester and ready to hit the ground running!
Can you see the difference between that scared little freshman Amy and the new me? I sure can.
It makes me sad that I will not have NSO next year. I will (hopefully) be teaching a class of elementary school students instead, but I still will miss it. I will miss the craziness of it all. I will miss staying up late and waking up early. I will miss spending 2 hours floating ducks down the river. I will miss waking up at 7 am to get to the Bell Tower by 8 to go to devotional with my students. I will miss the excitement of all the students coming to BYU for the first time. I will miss getting that renewed spirit of my purpose at BYU. I will miss it all. But I am so glad that I had the chance to redeem my first NSO and create good memories.
As one door is closing, another one is opening. We will just have to wait and see what Heavenly Father has in store for me next year at this time!
Come what may and love it!
Fall NSO 2011
I was a Freshman in college. If I am being quite honest, I was completely homesick. I remember the first night, I left the Housing party early and went back to cry. The first day of NSO, I came back from the activities for dinner with my parents and started crying the moment I got into the car. Reflecting back, I was a complete baby. The days that followed are a complete blur. I remember meeting so many people and doing so many things and being just completely and utterly exhausted. So that was my first NSO. It was hard. It was crazy. It really was not the best experience.
Fall NSO 2012
So now I was a Sophomore in college. I had a year of experience under my belt. I was a Freshman Mentor and I was determined to make so that they would not have the kind of experience that I did. I wanted to make sure that I was observing as much as I could and noticing if there was a person like me in my group. Looking back, I still was completely different. I had just gone through a week of training for a job that I felt completely unqualified for. I was nervous. I had to talk with complete strangers and connect with them. How could I, me, Amy, do that? My heart was pounding out of my chest, but I made it through. I was again utterly exhausted, but it was a much better experience.
Fall NSO 2013
I am now in my Junior year. I was once again entering NSO as a Freshman Mentor. To be honest, I was a lot more exited for this NSO. Before going into details, I would like to again reflect on how much I changed this year....Being a mentor really has changed me. I am a completely different person than I was a year ago, but I am me. The real me. I have always been scared of people judging me for who I am. In high school, I lost a handful of friends through different experiences and I just attributed it to me. I thought it was my fault. So coming to college, I hid my real self from the world. I wanted to be the person that everyone expected me to be- a person that people would like. But you know what? I still lost a lot of friends. Mentoring has taught me that it is okay to be myself. There are people who like me for me out there. I don't need to be fake. I have made some of my best friends from Freshman Mentoring. I am completely grateful for the experiences that I have had this last year. I can honestly say that I am able to be myself wherever I go. Is this always a good thing? No. But I am a lot happier being myself. This is the change that has happened in my life.
So now back to NSO:
I had the best group of students! I only had one Y-group so I felt like I connected with them a lot better instead of running between two different ones. But seriously, they were AMAZING!!
However, I was stupid and threw a work party the night before NSO and only got 12 hours of sleep over the course of three days. But NSO was amazing. I got 3 free t-shirts- sorry that is random, but I was super excited. I got to spend 24.5 hours with my students and begin building relationships. I am pumped up for the semester and ready to hit the ground running!
Can you see the difference between that scared little freshman Amy and the new me? I sure can.
It makes me sad that I will not have NSO next year. I will (hopefully) be teaching a class of elementary school students instead, but I still will miss it. I will miss the craziness of it all. I will miss staying up late and waking up early. I will miss spending 2 hours floating ducks down the river. I will miss waking up at 7 am to get to the Bell Tower by 8 to go to devotional with my students. I will miss the excitement of all the students coming to BYU for the first time. I will miss getting that renewed spirit of my purpose at BYU. I will miss it all. But I am so glad that I had the chance to redeem my first NSO and create good memories.
As one door is closing, another one is opening. We will just have to wait and see what Heavenly Father has in store for me next year at this time!
Come what may and love it!
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