As I have grown older, I have started to learn that nothing is ever exactly how you expect it to go. As I started college, I quickly realized that these four years of my time at UW-Madison were no exception. Particularly, with the friendships I have formed here and how those relationships will impact me. The biggest way my friendships from UW-Madison have impacted me (which I never expected) has been to make me more passionate, inspired, involved, and aware.
Now, with two years of college under my belt, I understand that every individual in college is constantly working to discover who they are as a person and identify what they believe in, what they care about, and what presence they want to have in the world. I am always so inspired by my friends and how passionate they are about what they dedicate their time to. Each of their enthusiastic attitudes towards their respective passions, be it politics, health, fitness, marketing, music, or art, is contagious and has exposed me to look at my own interests and question what I care about and want to devote time to.
This all contributes to discovering who you are as a person. I never would have expected that my friends would have such a profound and positive impact on my life but I feel incredibly grateful that I do. And I am not alone. I am proud to go to a university where a vast majority of the students have such drive and passion that we can all use to inspire one another.