Eric Johnson

It took a long time for me to realize how fortunate and appreciative I was of my life growing up in a smaller, more rural town. Looking back on the town of Ringgold, Georgia that I left behind for college, I realize how much of my life back home has remained apart of me. However, at the same time, I also realize how much I have grown as a person since coming to The Univeristy of Georgia. Growing up, my family always taught me how important it was to be open-minded about new experiences, learning from my mistakes, learning how to think on my own, and sharing my life with the right people. I take a lot of pride in keeping these qualities apart of my life every day. With that being said, I also reflect on my experiences thus far in college, and how they have affected my life.
To say that I was scared to move away from home where everybody knew each other, to a place where there are ten times as many students as there are people in my home town, would be an understatemnt. I remember how I felt on the first day of moving into my new home for the next year. I remember how everybody was rushing to move all of there things into the dorms. Everything from the sights of thousands of people to the smells of the community bathrooms was indeed overwhelimg, but also brand new to me. At first, it was a struggle for me to adapt to my new home, while at the same thinking how cool it was that my parents weren't yelling at me to take out the trash every day. However, with some time and a little adjustment, I began to fall in love with my new home.