The fact that it is 2017 is finally starting to sink in, and what I've started to realize is that time moves extremely fast. Was it really just a year ago that I was planning to transfer to Platteville? Was it really 4 months ago that I finally started my first semester? Last semester flew by in such a rush, I don't even remember everything that happened and the things I do remember are not in 20/20 focus. Since being home for a month, I feel like I was never at school, which is making it so much harder to go back. So, this is my New Years Epiphany: I need to slow down.

At school I'm heavily involved in extracurricular activities and very focused on my schooling. This sounds like every college parent's dream, but I need to start slowing down in between classes and really admire my campus. All of us are always in such a rush to move onto the next thing: the next project, the next Netflix and chill, the next party. What ever happened to living in the moment? We feel the need to be documenting what we're doing for our Snapchat or Instagram stories and taking pictures in the hopes that we will look back on them and remember everything from that moment: how we were feeling, what we were experiencing, who we were with. But instead of looking at life from the screen of our phone, why not really live it? Next time you are walking through campus or at a party I challenge you to put your phone down and really look around. Acknowledge the people who surround you, check into your emotions and feel them 100%. Feel as much as you can because one day you'll regret it if you don't. Cherish each moment with your friends and family because in the matter of a week or a month or a year from now, they may not be in your life anymore.

So, instead of a resolution, I'm going to act on my epiphany and really start living in the moment, set my phone down, and feel everything that I'm experiencing. I know I'll thank myself later.