My motto going into junior year was something along the lines of "never say no." Friends wanted to go out for T-shirt Tuesday? Okay. Cliff diving before the weather changed? I'll be there. Movie and wine night with some pie? Count me in for that any day. I slept in for as long as I could until my last alarm for class went off giving me no time to wake up and look like an actual human being. And on weekends I stayed out until 2 a.m. and slept in until 3 p.m. or until it was time to get ready to go out again. It was all fun and games until I woke up and realized I have dreams that I want to achieve in a few short years.
It's now spring semester and I feel like fall semester was a lifetime ago. Yes, I still go out on weekends sometimes but only if I want to. This semester's motto is more of a "work hard, play hard" mentality. I've applied to over 15 internships for this summer, I'm up at 5:30 a.m. every day to go to the gym and instead of binge watching Netflix, I'm getting ahead on homework and doing current internship assignments. This semester for me is definitely what I consider "adulting."
I think I've changed so much in one semester because I realized college is ending. First semester, when I realized how little time I had left, I wanted to have the time of my life with my friends before we all parted our ways around the country. Now I realize if I want to be as successful as I know I can be after college I need to prepare myself for the real world and what's going to come after graduation. Graduating is a scary thought (literally I want to throw up writing about it right now) but it's happening and there's nothing we can do to stop it.
I'm not saying stop going out, stop having fun, stop sleeping and watching Netflix. I'm saying look in the mirror and figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life. Then work towards that goal, that dream, that success you want for yourself every single day before going out, having fun, sleeping and watching Netflix. Even if it's only an hour a day you apply to internships/jobs or do your homework on a Friday afternoon instead of a Sunday night. At first, you'll be tired and feel like you're wasting your time then it'll become part of your routine.
You'll start to see results of how much you've changed in just one semester.
