If there’s one thing you have to do as a newly turned Coog, it’s to get a photo with Shasta and Sasha! | Anh Le/The Cougar
Welcome to the University of Houston! I am so excited for you to start the next chapter of your life. There is so much I want to tell you so I’ll use this page wisely.
College has been one of the best experiences of my life. As I’m about to enter my senior year, I can confidently say that I’ve met my life-long friends and gained a better understanding of myself.
However, it wasn’t always a walk in the park. Like most students on campus, I’m a commuter and I found myself struggling with the untraditional student experience. Right after spending an entire day on campus, I had to wait for my mom to pick me up and ended my day by falling asleep in my childhood bedroom.
I felt like I was missing out on the college experience you would hear people talk about in movies and shows. As the eldest daughter of an immigrant household, I also found it difficult to find a balance between being there for my parents and being there for myself.
The start was rocky but by the time I got to my sophomore year, I realized I was just at the beginning of one of the best years of my life.
That year, I saved up enough money to get myself a car, officially joined The Cougar’s editorial board and finally got the help I needed for my anxiety and depression. From then on, I felt myself slowly entering the world of “adulthood” that I wondered about as a kid.
I was still a commuter, but I began to see it in a different light now that I had my car. I was able to drive to downtown with my friends, visit the wonderful attractions all around Houston and tested the waters of my newly found independence.
I would shift away from the old notion that I couldn’t go out two nights in a row, and found myself coming home close to midnight at times.
As an anxiety-driven kid who always followed the rules, this was monumental for me. I was starting to explore life like never before, going as far as New York, Chicago and Washington. My life was no longer confined to the old, yellow walls of my room in the East End.
One of my proudest achievements this year is finally being able to live on campus at the Lofts. For my fellow Hispanic students, I don’t think I have to explain how bizarre it is to sit down with your immigrant parents and tell them you’re going to move out for a year even though UH is a 30 minute drive from your house.
Usually, students head to the dorms their freshman year but in my case, that wasn’t possible. My parents were way too strict and scared of the “what ifs” of living on campus. Also, living on campus would have doubled my tuition and it wasn’t something I could afford.
Regardless, there is a reason I’m telling you all of this and it’s to let you know that not one college experience is the same. Everyone has different values, experiences and goals that they bring to college with them and all three will be challenged one way or another.
You have to give yourself the opportunity to grow, but understand that it will not happen overnight. Your growth might also feel uncomfortable.
You will cry, laugh, scream and shout and wonder why things are the way they are. You will experience all sorts of emotions and feats, and wish those moments would never end.
Yet, those moments are the times where you have to reach deep down into yourself and come to terms with what you really want from life, what you want to keep and what you want to leave behind.
That moment for me was coming to the University of Houston. If it wasn’t for UH, I wouldn’t have found my passion for journalism nor the people I consider my soulmates for life. The last three years have been a whirlwind for me, and I can’t wait for you to experience your own version of it, too!
