As I write this, I'm sitting at home in the midst of easily one of the strangest periods of my life so far. My first year of college came to an abrupt mid-March ending, my summer internship is now remote, and instead of asking my roommates who left fruit on the counter again, I'm back at home with my family for the first time in months.  

 

But honestly, the pandemic into which our world has collectively been thrown may just have some positives too. I've reinvested my time into teaching myself Javascript and familiarizing myself with my Raspberry Pi, not to mention the abundance of free online courses to which I now have access. Practicing coding problems online before signing on to my calculus class, also online, then relaxing by connecting with my co-ed fraternity brothers and sisters (you guessed it, online) - things could be worse.

 

This past year has been, without a doubt, the most transformative of my life thus far, and I'm beginning to understand just how self-sufficient, ambitious, and empowered I can be. I've attended the Leadershape Institute and come away with my mind teeming with fresh motivation to make waves in my world. I've joined Theta Tau, a co-ed professional engineering fraternity, and am playing rugby on one of the top four collegiate teams in America. I've mastered the art of maximizing caffeine intake while simultaneously maximizing homework output, and I've finally jumped on the Game of Thrones bandwagon (unpopular opinion: Season 8 was good!).

 

All jokes aside, I'm doing all of this without fear of not being good enough, smart enough, or talented enough, because I'm learning all I can and taking failures in stride, learning and improving from them. From getting my first taste of college expectations and taking full advantage of this mind-boggling array of opportunity in front of me, to simple things like buying my own detergent for the first time (is Tide brand really that much better?), I'm finding my footing in a world that better get ready for me, because I don't intend on slowing down.