You’re young and have just begun understanding the world; true friends from the ones who’re temporary, real interests from the ones that you’re forced to do, etc. You go through periods of emotional chaos because the seemingly overwhelming nature of being an independent person is too much to bear now. You’re away from family, in a brand new land and as it is with anything new, you’ve new challenges to overcome. But with new challenges, comes new experience and those new experiences will SHAPE you.
You would not really know what you are characteristically if you haven’t tested yourself with new experiences. Most of us get tested naturally, some of us intentionally tests ourselves. Let me tell you what I mean. Let me use the analogy of a student, since it’s a lot more relatable to you and I. Student A, he is given an option to choose a project in any subject. He chooses a project in his best scoring subject, knowing he will ace it. Student B, he chooses a project in a field he has never encountered before. He thinks it will be a great opportunity for him to tests his abilities and get out of his comfort zone.
So, what’s the difference between those two students? They’ve both made strategic choices. Both decisions will benefit them academically, if there’s sufficient effort invested.
But what sets them apart? It’s the fact that one student wants to know himself better and the other doesn’t.
That’s just an analogy. Think about your life as a whole. Have you ever lived through something that was entirely new to you, just to test yourself? If you don’t, it’s completely fine. Either you know yourself well enough that you know, for a fact, that you would be more contented with something you’re comfortable with or you just don’t want to take the risk of testing yourself with something new, which may backfire. But to be sure of what you are and what you like, you will have to live through something that you wouldn’t like first. You wouldn’t know you preferred apples over oranges, if you haven’t eaten both.
You will have a tonne of opportunity to put yourself in new environments at university. My advice; grab them! They will forge you to be a better person than you were yesterday.