{"id":500,"date":"2026-04-07T18:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/?p=500"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:44:10","slug":"a-letter-to-my-freshman-year-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/2026\/04\/07\/a-letter-to-my-freshman-year-self\/","title":{"rendered":"A Letter to My Freshman-Year Self"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello Everyone,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am about to have my advising appointment to plan my last year of college. I can’t believe I have truly gotten this far. All the sweat, tears, and long nights studying are actually going to pay off. I sometimes think that if we could go back in time and talk to our younger self, it could fix half of the mistakes I made, but also, making mistakes is part of learning. Here are some things that I wish I had known as a freshman.<\/span><\/p>\n

You Belong:<\/b> College is hard, that’s why not everyone goes; it’s a lot of work. But one of the downsides is that everyone is there fighting to get through; there will be people who will try to take you down. I have had quite a few people tell me I don\u2019t belong. I am dyslexic and am getting a Creative Writing major. That being said, don’t let people tell you what you can and can\u2019t do. UIowa would not have accepted you if they didn\u2019t think you belonged.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You Will Find Your People: <\/b>Not everyone finds their best friends in the first week. You actually will probably meet most of your close friends later in college. My best friend and I didn\u2019t become super close till later into my freshman year and the summer before sophomore year. Now we are super close, and I am so lucky to have her, but I have lost lots of \u201cfriends.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other Relationships Always Look Better Than They Are: <\/b>I remember thinking how badly I wanted to be in a relationship as a freshman in the first month, and I did have a boyfriend for 4 months my first year, but people forget that relationships are work. Those who make it work during a busy college schedule, that’s great. But remember you aren’t behind or the only one if you are single. I have had two serious relationships, and I was lucky they both ended on good terms. But I have met so many people who get affected by relationships, just know that if it works, it works, but it’s ok not to be in a relationship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-love and Mental Health Is Important:<\/b> My freshman year, I thought I would never be homesick since I didn\u2019t realize that I would not experience a plummet in my mental health till January. As a third year, I have learned that you have to give yourself grace. Mental health is important as well as self-love and care. I do a \u201cspa\u201d day at least biweekly, with a deep skincare routine as well as taking a night to just watch TV or rest and read.<\/span><\/p>\n

No One Is As Happy As They Seem On Socials:<\/b> I wish every person could just remember this when they look at social media. If I could have had this in the back of my head all of Freshmen year, I think I would have been happier. I had to fully rewire my brain, and now every time I start to compare my college experience to someone else’s, I tell myself that someone is looking at my own social media, thinking I have it all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope this helps any incoming freshmen. Remember, college will be a beautiful journey, and you will get to experience new things and ideas. You will find something you love and will get to be yourself. I still am pinching myself cause I can\u2019t believe I made it this far. You will someday be here as well. Have a wonderful day<\/span><\/p>\n

Cheers,
\n<\/span>Rose\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Everyone,\u00a0 I am about to have my advising appointment to plan my last year of college. I can’t believe I have truly gotten this far. All the sweat, tears, and long nights studying are actually going to pay off. I sometimes think that if we could go back in time and talk to our younger self, it could fix half of the mistakes I made, but also, making mistakes is part of learning. Here …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":511,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500\/revisions\/511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/rose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}