Where do I even begin? This entire year was a learning experience, not just for me, but for virtually everyone that I know. But you know, we still made it. I still made it. At the end of 2018, I was in a really bad headspace and it wasn't a healthy place to be in, so I went into 2019 thinking things would get better. That was the biggest lie I told myself. I had to learn a lot about myself and go through hours where I had to become comfortable crying alone in a room so I could slowly heal from all of the pain that I endured this past decade - it was a lot.

My parents divorced at the end of 2011, so a year into this new decade, a lot was changing for me and I had to grow up quickly. It wasn't fun. I basically had my childhood stripped from my hands because I had to grow up quickly and I soon became accustomed to being the "most mature" person in the room.

I guess you could say I fell "in like" this decade. I found a guy who I thought was perfect and was exactly what I needed coming off the end of my parent's very messy split. He was my saving grace and I couldn't be more happier that I got to experience life with him for the few years we were friends.

I lost some friends this decade. Some moved away and I never heard from them again and I grew apart from others. I had to learn that people do grow apart and that's fine. Coming from a small town where you see all of your friends everyday, even outside of school, it became so easy to get caught up in trying to maintain every friendship. When I moved to college, I realized that those who know me, like truly know me, know that my love for them runs deep and will never go away no matter how far apart we are.

People expected a lot from me, and to some degree still do. I expected a lot from me, but overtime I learned to take my L's with a grain of salt and move forward. I learned that the world will continue to spin another day no matter how bad my day was. I also had to realize that I can tie a globe to a fan and stand underneath it, but it won't make the world actually revolve around me - people have worse days that I do where they don't even know if they'll eat the next day.

I realized my blessings a lot more and I started to count them. I may not be a millionaire's daughter, but I come from a loving household where I was taught to work for everything that I wanted, but to remain humble and give back when and if I could. I fell in love with charity work and community service. I found my calling on this Earth and it wasn't to please my family and do as they said, either.

Going into 2020, an entirely new decade, is scary. I'm scared because this is the decade where I'm leaving my teenage years behind and officially entering the real world. It's something knew, but who knows, this could be fun.