Hello! My name is Trenton Ross Taylor. I am from the city Midlothian in the state of Virginia. I am currently 19 years old and I am currently a Sophomore majoring in Computer Science here at Longwood! Below I would like to talk about my time in Longwood so far, detailing it year by year, and how I’ve grown and changed as a person.
Freshman year: My freshman year was a time of growth and development for me. I was reasonably mature for my age. I had a job, had good grades, and even a girlfriend at the time I was entering Longwood, but I had to face a ton of added pressure and responsibilities once I really got into the college experience. Beyond just having to take care of what I’m eating, my homework, and making sure everything was clean, being away from the people I know sucked. Not just my family, they were all close by. It was being away from my friends that was truly the hardest on me. I’ve never been particularly good at making friends, and only had the large group I had in high school because I was more or less forced into it. So being away from my friends left me…really lonely for a while. I tried to make friends during my first semester, but it seemed like I was failing at it. Because of that, I got into a..very bad state of mind during my second semester. I was eating less, I wasn’t taking care of myself (both physically and mentally), and I was constantly shut in my room. My grades and my mood suffered immensely because of this. I managed to learn to handle all of these new responsibility, but I wasn’t doing it in a healthy way. This was a year of growth, adjustment, and adversity. A massive struggle within myself to adjust. Luckily, things grow much better during my sophomore year.
Sophomore year: Sophomore year was when things finally began improving for me. Over the summer, I took the time to talk to my loved ones, see my friends, and generally focus on myself. After getting some help, I started taking care of myself a lot better. During school, I began regular exercise, kept my grades a lot higher, and was eating much healthier. I was able to find that balance between taking care of schoolwork and taking care of myself. I started making friends, going to clubs (if i..didn’t forget), and just generally being a more social person. I started to actually feel like a part of this school. Coronavirus did indeed throw a wrench into that, but regardless, I felt like I was starting to make my mark at this school. I was properly handling everything that was being thrown at me, and I had the proper support network in case I needed some help.
I’m hopeful that my junior year will only build on the successes of my sophomore year, and that I’ll be able to build my connections more, and grow even more as a person and a Lancer.