To incoming students, welcome back to NSU. To incoming freshmen, welcome to college.

College is the time of your life.

You’re in this weird limbo of having post-high school freedom while not quite being an actual adult yet. It’s great.

Yet while you meet those life-long friends, fall in love and find who you truly are, it doesn’t come without hardships.

You’ll fail along the way, and sometimes you’ll fail hard. You’ll make the wrong decisions. You’ll possibly hurt people you care about, even if it’s unintentional.

You won’t always be the perfect friend. The perfect partner. The perfect student.

I can personally attest that I’ve failed hard and been the antagonist in the people I love’s stories.

While sometimes I replay what life would be like now if I hadn’t made those mistakes, I don’t regret most of them.

Every mistake you make in life, not just college, will help you grow and learn who you truly are.

I lost my best friend because of selfishness, and even through apologies and forgiveness our friendship isn’t the same. It taught me that putting yourself first is good when it’s about making choices with purpose and a deeper, higher meaning in mind but not when it comes to relationships.

I was blindsided when I lost the first guy I thought I loved, even though I watched him treat me worse with every day that passed. It taught me to know my worth and never settle.

When I was a pre-med major, it made me question what I wanted. The one thing that was certain, my future career, was now ambiguous. That’s when I changed my major to communications. It taught me to take a leap of faith when I didn’t know what was on the other side.

All these failures were hard in the moment, but they’ve also led to self-discovery and success.

While I do miss my friend dearly, I’ve learned to be a better friend to the ones I do have. I know the difference between positive and negative selfishness and aim to balance my relationships.

Now I have Derek, the man of my dreams who shows me every day how much he loves me and what authentic love is. I did not expect him to walk into my life, but I thank God every day that he did. He means the world to me.

And changing my major to communications has led to the greatest payoff of all. It led me here: being your editor in chief. Now I know the path I want after college and what I’m passionate about, which is a complete 180 from what I thought I wanted when I was 18.

This isn’t meant to be discouraging. It’s meant to be real. You don’t see the hardships on Instagram and other social media platforms, and it can lead to the feeling of isolation when they happen.

A rose garden comes with thorns. The thing is, the sweetness of a rose outweighs the pain of a thorn.

I love that I am now the editor in chief of this newspaper. And I hope that I make you all proud.

Take a leap of faith, and Fork’Em Demons.