This coming weekend, I am celebrating my birthday. It marks my survival of one year as a real, legitimate adult. It was a year of growth and learning, and I think it would only be right for me to write a reflection upon that year.
July was a weird month for me last year. After two months on crutches, I was finally figuring out how to walk, drive and work again. It was a month of healing, adjustment and settling. I learned to push through frustration, no matter how difficult it was.
August brought around a season of massive transitions. Not only was I preparing for and settling into college, but I was also in the process of moving out of my childhood home. I was also in an accident that totaled my car, so I had to bid adieu to my baby that had given me two great years. The day I left for college was the last day I was in the house I had spent the last 15 years in. I was on my own with a bunch of strangers knowing I would never be going back to the place I called home, and that was completely terrifying. I was sharing a room for the first time in my life, I didn't have a car to get away, I was unsure about the quality of the food; needless to say this was a time of discomfort for me, and the only way to make it through happily was to surround myself with the best people and the best experiences. Lucky for me, that wasn't too difficult.
I thrived during my first semester of college. My grades were not perfect by any means, but I was enjoying the things I learned and performing to the best of my abilities. I adored my professors, had the greatest friends and was having a blast. Honestly, if the rest of my college career mirrored that first semester with just a minor improvement in grades, I would be the happiest person alive, I guarantee it. During this time, my relationship with God also thrived. I was challenged, but I was in an environment where my spiritual life was nurtured, and that is an unbelievable blessing. Oftentimes, college is when students fall away from God, and to be able to go somewhere that quite the opposite happens is such a gift.
I allowed Christmas break to be a time of rest for me. Of course, I spent time with friends from home and went on excursions with my family, but more than anything, I allowed myself to settle into my new home and my new city and enjoy the lack of schoolwork. I do think this respite instilled a bit of homesickness in me when I returned to school that was not there before, but it also allowed me to value my family a bit more than I had been earlier in the year.
J-term was just as great, if not better than first semester. I got to connect with friends on a deeper level, especially those who I had not yet gotten to know well. J-term brought with it a unique class schedule, the ability to sleep in, increased free time and broomball season. As I write this now, I am realizing that I can't wait for January of 2017. January also brought with it a newfound political activeness in me. I had the opportunity to go to Iowa and work on a presidential campaign the weekend before caucuses, something not many 18-year-olds can boast. This political activeness would continue for the rest of the school year, and it revealed to me an interest in something I had written off before.
Second semester at school was a bit of a stumbling block, to say the least. I lost my passion for my field of study, but grew emotional whenever I thought about the prospect of not being able to work in my career of choice. I was conflicted, bored and unhappy. Still, I persevered with the passion I once had in the back of my mind. Rough patches occur, and if I were to give up my dreams at each one of them, I'd be one unhappy camper. I'm not proud of that semester, but it's in the past. What's done is done, and I have learned from it.
March was a very exciting time in many ways. I caucused for the very first time (my candidate won), I ran for delegate for the first time (I won), ran for delegate for the second time (I won again), and I adopted my very own puppy (everyone wins with puppies). I was, at 18-years-old, responsible for a living, breathing creature of my own. I recently learned that responsibility also includes paying for medical procedures needed, so I'm out 200 big ones, but my boy is totally worth it.
In May, I learned to say goodbye. Moving out was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. Seeing the room you lived in for the past nine months completely bare and sterile once again is one of the most upsetting images a college student can deal with, and I still miss room E410. I can't wait until August comes around, and I get to see all of my friends again; it will be a much needed reunion.
June came, and I got a new job. I am able to work with animals every day and meet some of the cutest pooches ever, and my passion for animals and veterinary medicine has come back full force. I will stop at nothing to put my dreams aside, and that's how I plan on feeling the rest of my college career. Sophomore year better watch out, because I'm coming in hot.
It's July again. I've been walking for a year, I am a seasoned college veteran, and I am a passionate adult. I know what I want to do, and I know how I'm going to do it. Eighteen was cool, but nineteen will be even better. I just know it.
