I have just finished my third year of college! It is quite a bit of a relief to be finished with my schoolwork for the year, and I’m glad to be done for a little bit. I am very much looking forward to this summer because I hope that it is filled with adventure!

This summer is going to be filled with lots of firsts for me. First off, I am going to take my first European trip! I’ll be visiting four different countries all within a month. I’ll be visiting lots of sites, learning a lot about culture, doing a lot of sketching, and definitely doing a lot of eating. I hope that this first adventure of the summer proves to be both invigorating and relaxing. I trust that it will be a relaxing change of pace from the chaos and stress of the school year, and I also want it to be adventurous and a stimulating experience.

After I get back from my European adventure, I will be starting a less exotic (but hopefully just as exciting) adventure. This summer, I will be working as an intern at a professional firm. This is going to be my first “big girl job.” Right now, this adventure still seems to be pretty daunting; I am more nervous about it than I am excited about it. I hope that these feelings prove to be wrong and I hope that this internship is something that I am going to enjoy. I also hope that this internship experience will help guide my career decisions, as I will be entering the real-world workplace in less than a year.

Also throughout this summer, for the first time I am not going to be living with my parents. At first this decision made me a bit scared and sad. But now that I’ve grown more comfortable with this decision of mine, it makes me feel independent and proud. Although I still don’t feel that I am fully a part of the “real world,” I feel that this decision is helping me make some big strides in that direction. This is something that makes me very excited for my future.

So adventure, I am coming for you!