I usually don’t write blog-style articles on Odyssey, but with junior year coming to a close, I felt it was necessary.

To put it bluntly, this year of college has been the craziest, hardest and best year all at the same time:

I changed my major.

TBT to when I was studying kinesiology and was dead-set on going to PT school someday…

Starting junior year, I packed up my things from the School of Education and headed over to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW-Madison. At first, it was scary giving in to my creative side, but I’m enthused to say that I love what I’m doing in the J-School and can’t wait for a career in this exciting field.

I stopped dancing.

Yep — another huge change. This was my first year not being a part of a dance team, which was quite an adjustment. Although I made the decision to stop during sophomore year, not having dance in my life still took awhile to get used to once junior year started. It wasn’t easy to make that decision, but I’m happy that I did. I was introduced to a wealth of new opportunities, and I’m thankful to have had so many unique experiences in college under my belt.

I got to live with my college besties one last time.

We upgraded from the sophomore slums to a perfect spot right near downtown Madison and a couple short blocks from campus. Since freshman year, these girls have been the best people to experience college with.

Laura (left) was my freshman year roomie (I’m so glad we made the decision to stick together!), and her lovely twin, Ellen (right, 2nd in), moved in with us this past year. These girls are the fiercest set of sisters I’ve ever met.

Molly (center) has been along for the ride with me since we made the dance team senior year of high school. Needless to say, we’ve been through a TON together and share all those annoying inside jokes that no one ever gets except us.

Kelly (left, 2nd in), joined our family sophomore year when she transferred into UW-Madison — this girl is the most thoughtful, loving person I know. (See this pic? She traveled all the way from Australia just to enjoy a game day with us.)

I dealt with some personal challenges.

If you read some of my previous Odyssey articles, you know that I’ve struggled with some mental health issues over the year, as well as some harmful experiences. I’m happy to say that I’m doing really well today, thanks to my extremely supportive family and friends. I was reminded this year of how lucky I am to have such caring support systems in my life.

I realized how quickly these years of college have been going by.

The fact that I’m already wrapping up junior year says it all… Every day, I’m astonished by how quickly my time at UW-Madison has been flying by. It’s hard to believe that after this summer, I’ll be starting senior year.

I met the best guy.

This is John. We've been dating for about six months now, and I couldn’t be happier! He’s the best.

I wrapped up my first internship and am excited to start new opportunities!

I worked as the social media intern for a fabulous studio called The Barre Code — if you haven’t taken a class here, you absolutely need to! It was so fun working with a community filled with so much empowerment and body positivity.

Looking ahead, I’m moving back to Minnesota for the summer to work an internship at an advertising agency in Minneapolis. In the fall, I’ll be heading to Washington, D.C. to work and study. It will be strange not being in Madison these next few months, but I’m looking forward to what’s in store for me with these new opportunities.

I found a new family with Odyssey.

I started writing for Odyssey in September, where I became Editor-in-Chief shortly after, and then President this past March. Spending these months writing and working for this publication has been such a bright spot in my junior year. I started with just five writers at UW-Madison and am proud to say that we’re now a powerhouse of about 30 (and counting). Thank you to my boss, Berkeley, my wonderful community of creators and squad of fellow EIC’s and presidents for making this such a rewarding experience.

Phew! There you have it — a brief rundown of my junior year. It’s easy to say that this year has been full of major ups and downs, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.