2016 has been a crazy year. And though so many things have happened, all I can think about is my first semester of my sophomore year at Cal, and all the stress it caused me. Yet ironically enough, this semester has undoubtedly been my favorite time in college … which I’ve thought about repeatedly – how can my favorite time thus far in school be my most stressful? Isn’t that a paradox?

Well, I came to the realization that it’s totally plausible. And it’s because of a lot of reasons. For one, I really enjoyed the classes I took this semester – I found the material fun, and even though they caused much of my stress, I realized along the way that I had a little bit of fun (okay, actually quite a bit).

When I was cleaning out my room today, I came across some of my college acceptance letters and snapped out of my Berkeley bubble; I realized that I was worrying about things as a student at Berkeley, but I had forgotten to stop and remind myself how thankful I am to be at the university in the first place.

What truly made this semester fun for me, however, were the people I met. They’ve become some of my best friends, and they made me realize that as long as you put yourself in a happy and supportive environment, you can get through any obstacle, big or small, that you might encounter.

Here’s to 2017 - for new adventures and friendships.

xoxo,
avanti