The first month of university is not just the start of a new cycle – it is a time to confront freedom, pace, and responsibility that come with a new rhythm of life. In this phase, every step is a lesson, and every decision shapes the maturity and awareness with which we move toward the future.

One enters a new pace, a system no longer guided by external rules but by personal will and self-discipline. It is a period of adjustment, but also of self-examination: how prepared are we to bear the weight of our own choices?

The freedom that comes with university life seems alluring, but it is not absolute – it is a test. A test of discipline, of the skill to organize one’s day, and of the ability to remain consistent in an environment without strict boundaries. Facing this new autonomy is not easy, as it demands learning the hardest lesson of all: that true freedom cannot exist without responsibility.

The first month is also a clash of rhythms: the inner drive for speed versus the slow tempo of reality. This contrast sometimes creates unease, but also clarity. Within that unease, the ability to be patient is built, and within that clarity – the awareness that maturity is not an achievement, but a process.

Life begins to be written with one’s own handwriting. There is no longer a path paved in advance – there is only freedom that demands direction and decisions that must be renewed every day. And here emerges the new thought of the adult: progress is not in speed, but in the awareness with which we navigate our own future.

                                                                      At the Beginning of the Path,
Anastasija Gjorgjievska