A year ago today I graduated from UConn. The whole day, especially the ceremony itself, is a big blur in my mind. That day I had to move out of my dorm, go to a luncheon, graduate, take a million and one photos, and leave UConn with the knowledge that I wouldn’t be moving back in come August. There were a lot of emotions tangled up in that day. I was so excited to be graduating and moving into the next stage of my life. There was a lot of love going around that day between myself, my family, my friends. There was a lot of stress because I had to move out of my dorm completely before I left UConn that day. And I was sad because for 4 years I had been a student at UConn and I had loved it. I loved so many of my classes, professors, the friends I made. I grew a lot while I was at UConn. I knew that the next stage of my life was going to be great, but at the end of the day, no matter how unexpectedly it was, I was sad to be leaving.
Since graduating so much has happened. I’ve continued to grow and evolve as a person. I’ve started grad school and my fabulous internship. I’ve made new friends, gotten a car that’s new to me, fully acclimated to living at home. I’ve blogged and not blogged, written and not written, exercised and not exercised. There was a very very long winter, a lot of new relationships made, and so much learned from my classes and internship. Here are some of the big things that I’ve learned in the past year.
- It’s important to surround yourself with good people. I have an amazing family and some of the greatest friends in the whole world. In the past year they’ve loved me and supported me. They’ve helped keep me grounded when life got stressful. They’ve cheered for me when I’ve done well; they’ve told me everything would get better when there were bumps in the road. They provide me with the best support system I could have asked for, and I love them so so much.
- Everything will work out in the end. My car dying. Submitting the wrong assignments to professors. Group projects. Crazy days at work. Taking my Praxis II. All of these are things that I’ve worried about and stressed over since graduating. And everything has worked out when all was said and done. These experiences have helped me to grow, have helped me to be more self sufficient, have allowed for me to grow and evolve as a person. Try to look at the bumps in the road as learning experiences that you’ll come out of victorious rather than as the be all end all.
- Do things that you love. There are a lot of things in life that you have to do. You probably have to have a job. Pay bills. Cook. Etc. Etc. Many things in life are not negotiable. And that’s OK. But when there is time to do something you love, run towards that opportunity. For me that’s reading and writing. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of both, and it makes me feel great. Doing the things that make me happy balances out having to do the things that I’m not crazy about. Maybe for you that’s playing a sport or drawing or painting or dancing or playing music or acting or anything else in the world. Chase the things you love because at the end of the day everyone wants to be happy.
- Chase your dreams. This is similar to #3, do the things that you love. I love to write, and I dream about being really successful at it. So I write a lot. I manage my two blogs. I keep a daily journal. I read a lot so I can learn and absorb information about writing. I’m so excited to be a teacher, but I also have a lot of dreams surrounding writing, and I’m making sure that I don’t forget about them but rather work actively towards them.
These are some of the big things that have really stuck with me over the past year. They’re things that I try to remember and remind myself of every day. I’m sure that in another year I’ll have learned so much more and will have so many more things to share with all of you.
BrittanyM
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