Freshman Year

Challenging, Difficult, Hectic, and Stressful. These are the few words that come into my mind when I think of my Freshman year at Stevens. A lot has happened. Good and bad. The good memories were the ones that made the year exciting and memorable. But it was the bad moments that has shape me to who I am, making me a stronger person, the person I am today. I came into Stevens with a young mind. I had no study ethics, and my attitude towards school was "I can wait last minute and still get a good grade." But that mind set only worked in County Prep. I learned my lesson during the first semester. It was frightening entering college not having anyone from my high school come in with me. I had one goal in life, and that is to become successful. The path to my goal was still a blur.
August 20. It was a long day coming in from my vacation in Europe. For some reason, I was not prepared to start a new chapter of my life. It could have been because I have not accepted the fact that I would no longer be seeing the friends I am used to everyday. But that was not case. For the most part it was because I was a heartbroken guy who was in the process of accepting the dreadful act of "moving on". Nobody knew. I did not want anybody to know the past I left behind. People come and go, new faces, new smiles. One by one, I watched as I became part of the Massive Family.
It started with eight. Some were strangers, some had a history. But for all I knew, we all had a connection. I felt nothing buy happiness. My days were filled with laughter, gossip, and jokes. All I could remember were mornings, afternoons, and nights with my Massive Family. Each of us went through our good days and bad days. Some of us had arguments while others grew bigger bonds. I breezed luckily through the first semester. Did not do many homework, did not focus on lessons, and skipped classes. Nothing was important to me. I was lost in the school work. I kept this attitude throughout the whole semester, and earned myself a 2.5 GPA. I felt bad for one thing the most: I cheated for the most part to get a 2.5. I knew I did not want to continue the rest of my Stevens years like this. I needed to change.
From this family, I have grown close with one man. Someone I accepted as a brother to me. We talked about everything. Told each other everything. Laughed and vented to each other. A day came to me as a shock, when all the respect I had for him just disappeared. I really do not know if what I did was for the best, but I know what I did showed nothing but honesty. As of today stands, I do not see him as a friend or as a bad person. It is just nothing.

It is now May 5. As the end of the spring semester closes in, I am proud to say I have changed. Slowly. My study ethics are better. The eight is now six. But those six are the ones that worked hard, and deserved each others friendship. Our laughs are louder, the gossip is juicier, the smiles are wider, and the bond is stronger. The ate, the Mexican, the BF, twin 1, twin 2, and adopted. They make up my Massive Family. The path to my goal is no longer a blur, and I have finished a paragraph to my college chapter.