I retweeted this one week after I began my first semester of senior year. I retweet a ton of tweets, but in that moment I don’t feel like I have ever felt more connected to a tweet in my life than I had with this one.
I’ve been looking forward to this semester ever since I made my class schedule back in October, so it’s been 2.5 months of working hard to make it here. I have two major courses that are both with my favorite IT professor I’ve had, and two core classes, both with professors whom I absolutely adore. When I was fresh out of high school, I came to my college for the required orientation and listened to a panel given by a man who taught sociology. His entire spiel was about how college was meant to change us. This experience that we were all about to dive head-first into was going to challenge us in ways we had never been challenged before. He wanted to remind us that even though there’s a saying that goes around claiming “C’s get degrees”, that statement would not help us learn, grow, or move forward in our lives. He encouraged us to genuinely make an effort to learn from the professors we would soon have, and to always remain curious. After leaving his panel I knew I had to take his class during my time here, and I’m finally getting the chance to do it. I’m enjoying his class even more than I ever hoped I would, and I couldn’t be happier knowing that I’m learning about a topic that affects every single person’s everyday life, mine included.
Since I’m specializing in web development and design, I’ve been on the hunt for any kind of extra work that will give me relevant experience in that field. My wonderful roommate, Elizabeth, saw that my school was hiring a web media assistant for my campus’ recreation department and urged me to apply. If it hadn’t been for her encouragement and persistence, I wouldn’t have gotten this amazing opportunity to work with genuinely fun, talented and creative people every school day. The job is a perfect match for me, and I am so so grateful to be making some income while I’m in school.
Instagram could easily be considered one of my addictions, but this year that addiction has led to something crazy cool. I started following a journalism major from UGA a few months back, let’s call her “K”, and I was checking out her online portfolio to get inspiration for how I wanted to set up mine (which is coming in the near future). As a senior in college, I’m constantly looking at online portfolios, web design businesses, job openings, and internships. Thanks to K, I found a colleague of hers had interned with a web marketing company. Since I didn’t see any information about this company’s interns, I decided to fill out a contact form to ask about any possible openings. 3 weeks later I have a phone call with the CEO of the company, who is quite possibly the most inspiring female entrepreneur I’ve ever encountered. She started her very own business, published a book, built a team of like-minded professionals who share her value of work hard, play hard, and truly values the freedom to live your life to the fullest without the constraints of business and the corporate world holding you back. She has become one of my biggest inspirations, and I now have the immense pleasure of getting to do work for her. She complimented me on my “go-getter” attitude in reaching out about the position even though they typically ignore intern requests, so I’m both flattered and honored. It’s crazy to think about how this whole ordeal came about because this is the kind of success story you talk about with people you’re trying to inspire. And here I am, making things happen.
I’m settling back into the rhythm of school and crazy schedules, and having an absolute blast. I get the chance to create and work with amazing people every day in two jobs in a field that I love working in and hope to have a career in after graduation! I’m taking fun classes with great professors, and I have the most wonderful friends and family who never fail to support me along the way.
God has shown up in the sweetest ways at the start of this year. I remind myself daily that all of my life is because of His faithfulness, and I intend to make every effort to work and live it for Him.
Elizabeth claims that I’m flourishing right now, and I can’t help but feel like she’s right. I’m holding on to Addison Agen’s cover of “Humble and Kind” with all of my might in an effort to stay small, work quietly, and let my success be my noise. If there is such a thing as someone being able to actually blossom, then I’m in the sweetest little spring season of my life right now.
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” -Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
