At the end of the year, I try and reflect on what I've done throughout the year, and normally that includes all of the new responsibilities that I've picked up throughout the year. However, this year, one thing that stands out to me are the things that I didn't end up doing during the year.

At the start of the year, I considered taking a leadership position in one of my student organizations. However, this role was one that I wasn't really prepared for, and I wouldn't have been able to spend time with my friends that I'd made. Instead of taking this position, I was able to take two different leadership positions.

If I tried to take this position, I wouldn't have been able to take this new job with Odyssey or a leadership role that I love. Both of these things came after I would've applied for the first leadership position. The new roles that I took on are better fits for me than the one I passed on.

I also thought about taking a different role in my job. However, I decided that I liked what I was doing, and that I didn't actually have more time in my schedule to devote to this job. If I had tried to take the position, I don't know that I would have actually enjoyed what I was doing anymore.

One of the best choices I've made this year was studying abroad. However, with that there were opportunities that I had to turn down to have the experiences that I did. First, I had to decide what program to do. Had I chose a different city or country, I never would've met the people that I did or seen the sights that I saw.

In addition to picking where I studied, I also had to choose where I traveled to when I had free time to do so. Coming back, people ask me if there were any places that I regret not seeing. While there are a ton of places that I would've loved to see, I didn't regret going to any of the places that I went.

Most importantly, I loved the classes I took this year. There are so many different classes that I could've taken this year. In past years, I've disliked at least one of the classes I've taken, but the past two semesters I was happy with the classes that I took. I'm glad to have dropped the classes that I did and that I didn't pick the ones that I didn't.

I think that coming to the end of the year and not having regrets about the things I didn't do is something that I'm very proud of. With all of the opportunities that have presented themselves throughout the year, I'm thankful to look back on what happened and be happy with where I am.

To all the opportunities I didn't take this year, thank you for presenting yourself. Thank you for being options that I almost took but didn't. Thank you, because without you, I wouldn't be where I am today. Even though I didn't take every opportunity that I could've, mostly because I don't have that much time, I'm glad to even have the chances that I did.