So this year I moved away from home to a college that was over 1,000 miles away from my home and family in Texas.I knew that Ohio State was the perfect school for me. There was no denying that. It had everything I had ever dreamt of; amazing dance department, greek life, incredible school spirit and a big, beautiful campus that felt like home. With all of this to say, the transition was still not as smooth as I had wanted.
Initially moving to Ohio State, I only knew 2 other people that were going to be Freshman in the dance department and I knew 3 people that were going to be Seniors in the dance department. I chose to be roommates with someone that I did not know so I was initially very nervous about that because we were not able to meet prior to move in day. It was going to be hard for me to put myself out there because I was typically a little shy when first meeting me.
My roommates and I found out that we got along very well and weren't gonna have any issues, so that made me feel very relieved and more comfortable early on in the year. It wasn't too hard to find friends in the dance department because I already had one huge thing in common with all of them: we all loved dance enough and wanted to do something with it in the future. This commonality between all of us made it easy to get along and bond. We also found that we had common interests outside of the dance department. This made the transition a lot more smooth for me because I had found friends that I could dance with and perform with but could also hang out with outside of the dance department.
Being able to feel comfortable on such a big campus wasn't difficult because Ohio State always felt like home even before moving onto campus.
One of the biggest things that I struggled with throughout the transition was my relationship with God. When I was home, it was so easy because I went to youth group classes before regular service and then went to regular service with my parents on Sunday. I always read my Bible daily and journaled about it and prayed a lot. In college, I didn't have a car so it was hard to go off campus on Sunday's to find a church. As the year went on without going to church consistently like I had been, I felt like my relationship with God was becoming very silent. I wasn't seeing Him as much as I had before. But as the year went on, I realized that I didn't have to have a church to see God working in my life. I just needed to be present and continue with my daily practices and just continue to look for God throughout the small, daily things. I realized that I couldn't force it. I really learned the meaning of "Let Go and Let God". I saw that letting go opened a lot of doors and I really started to see God work whenever I didn't worry and just had faith in His plan.
Another really important thing that I started to really understand throughout this 1st year at Ohio State is that it is so important to just be yourself. It feels weird to be yourself when you first arrive and don't know anyone. You feel like you have to put on this front for people to first see but I realized that it is so much better to just be yourself from the start so that people will like you for who you are and not someone you showed them you were. You make your truest friends whenever you are completely yourself.
I can't believe this first year is over. I am so excited for the next 3.
With joy, Kendall
