You Are Who You're Around
My Freshman year was the first time in my life I had ever had this much freedom. Not only was it exhilarating but also extremely daunting. Never before had I ever been in complete control of my schedule, my actions and my words. I could do whatever I want, hang out with whoever I wanted and I ended up making choices I shouldn’t have, hanging out with people I shouldn’t have, but I don’t regret any of it. All my choices are what shaped who I am today.
Instead of focusing on my professional development I got sucked into the party crowd. Had my first sip of alcohol, started going out every weekend. It was not my proudest moment. I started skipping classes, sleeping in, skipping workouts. All this freedom, but I was wasting it all away. My grades were still all As but I wasn’t learning anything, I wasn’t growing.
My second semester, I met someone. The most ambitious person I know, an unwavering spirit in the pursuit of greatness. She was focused, locked in. That rubbed off on me. Meeting her was when the quote
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with - Jim Rohn
started making sense to me.
Something shifted after that. I started showing up differently, not because I had a plan, but because I was around someone who made mediocrity feel uncomfortable. I found myself staying in on Friday nights to grind LeetCode. I walked into hackathons not knowing what I was doing and walked out with wins. I landed a job that actually meant something to me, working on AI at a children’s hospital. I started doing research I genuinely cared about. None of it felt like hustle. It just felt like finally using the freedom I had been given in a way that my mom would be proud of.
If there’s one thing freshman year taught me, it’s that freedom without the right people around you is just rope. You can either build something great with it, or suffocate.