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By Ozy Anyanwu
A word that has lived in my mind throughout the Spring semester of my freshman year is the word: seasons. This semester presented a few challenges to me. The weather, a heavy courseload, and anxiety, to name a few. However, these experiences taught me that the more I’m met with challenges or hardships, the more important it is not to try to “skip” them but to acknowledge that I am only experiencing a season. At the beginning of the semester, I read a devotion that said, “Marking in the moment doesn’t just anchor us in the present. It also deepens our gratitude when we would normally be quickly moving on to the next season without appreciating the current one.” It’s so easy to try to blow past all the hard seasons. I found myself saying, “I just want this semester to be over.” However, once I learned to ride the waves instead of drowning in them, I began to find joy in all the small things. This semester has brought blessings that I can’t even begin to count. I get to serve as a Cardinal Guide in the Office of Admissions and help high school students fall in love with UofL. I will be a Resident Advisor this summer at the Governor’s Scholars Program at Center College, the same campus where I was a scholar in 2023. This semester, I’ve made new friends, deepened my relationships, and grown unimaginably. Unfortunately, anxiety is never going to go away. Fear of uncertainty persists. However, in every season of life I enter, I will learn to ride the waves as they come, mindful that if only I can hold on longer, the challenging season will be a thing of the past. As I ride the waves, I will always remain in a season of gratitude, knowing I have so much to be thankful for.
Ozy is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2028 at the University of Louisville. She studies political science on a global studies and international affairs track and Spanish.