“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” John Quincy Adams

How I have grown and what I have learned during my first semester at Iowa State and the Hixson program:

This semester has undoubtedly been a growth period for me. I have endured trials this first semester that  in any period previous to this would have knocked me on my face. I have developed time management skills as well as methods for coping with stress that have enabled me to overcome the various trials I explained in a previous post. I think my biggest lesson so far this year is that I cannot do everything on my own, sometimes I need to accept the helping hand that is outstretched to me by friends and family.

I am generally a very stubbornly independent person, but this semester has torn down some of those walls and forced me to realize that not everything is about myself and my ability to do things on my own. I have learned a lot from allowing others to help me. It also is a trusting factor, when I reach out for support those friends and family feel trusted by me which helps develop stronger relationships. 

Like the quote in the title of this post states, patience and perseverance are two lessons I have learned this past semester. I have discovered that patience is necessary always, but in college is even more important. Living with someone you hadn't met before, working in groups with people drastically different from yourself, enduring the types of random struggles I have had this year all require immense patience. Luckily, my roommate is easy to get along with and I haven't had too many group projects yet. :)

I don't think I have grown or changed too much, but I am sure that more growth is to come as I have put into more unfamiliar situations and pushed further and further outside of my comfort zone.