I believe that 2018 is the year of self-care. According to PsychCentral, "self-care" is defined as "any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health." Between going to school full time, working 25-30 hours a week, being in a student org, supporting friends in whatever endeavors they face, and writing for Odyssey, there was little to no time for me, and it was really starting to take a toll on me.

One day I had to sit down and prioritize. Certainly, I couldn't drop out of school. I've been here too long to give up now. I also couldn't quit my job. I would like to keep my bills paid and attempt to save money, so not having a source of income would be foolish.

I don't want to brag, but I would like to think I'm a pretty supportive friend so it would be completely out of character for me to stop that. Writing for Odyssey gives me yet another platform to share my thoughts, opinions, and feelings on, so I didn't want to give that up either. That only left one thing, my student org.

This student org will go unnamed in this piece because most of you already know what it is, and this isn't meant to bash the org or anyone in it. Most of you also know that I had to join a different chapter of this org with me transferring schools.

I knew things were going to be different coming into this chapter, but for some reason I expected things to be similar to the one I came from; they weren't and that's okay because no two chapters are the same.

Because of the way my class and work schedules were set up last semester, I had to miss most, if not all, of the events I was supposed to attend. This prevented me from being able to get to know everyone and make genuine connections.

I was essentially this new person who only came around when he could, which wasn't often. Pair that with a decision that was going to be made that I wasn't too particularly fond of, I quickly started to feel uncomfortable. I was also missing the chapter I came from a lot so that wasn't making any of this easier.

I don't really think you need to fit in to be a part of something, but I do feel like you need to be comfortable and be able to make connections. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out that way for me this time. This isn't to bash this chapter or this org, I just think with all things considered, it's better for me to step away.

I think it's perfectly healthy to step away from things, especially if you can't give them the best effort and attention that you would like to. I was too attached to the people, memories, and experiences from my old chapter to be able to flourish in this new one.

This was a very tough decision for me to make because I love this organization with all my heart, but it's time for me to move on. I don't know what the future holds for me, but you know what they say. Once one door closes, another one opens. A door that'll create a new journey, a new story, a new experience.