Every year, I look forward to Thanksgiving. Glazed Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Mac & Cheese galore, what isn’t there to look forward to? Other than the amazing food however, each year I am reminded of all I have to be grateful for. 2025 has been quite the year. I’ve had some really high highs, but also some really low lows. Through it all, I remember the things and people who have centered my life and helped me get to where I am today.
My Suitemates: Last year, I was roommates with my best friend and it was amazing. I could not have asked for a better roommate. However, our suitemates were a different situation. So this year, I was really nervous about who I’d be living with. This year, I got a single. So everything else was in the air. Luckily for me, the two sharing a double room next to me were my best friend and roommate from last year, and my other friend from work. So, I had two familiar faces sharing a wall with me. On the other side of the suite were 3 others who I either wasn’t familiar with or didn’t know at all. I was nervous that going random again in a suite would be a repeat of last year. But it wasn’t, it was far from it. This group of girls are so diverse, different and unique, yet it’s so perfect to me. We all come from different backgrounds, and are going through all different things yet we always find a way to bond and care for one another. The countless nights watching movies, decorating our living room, cooking together, playing games and just goofing around in these past 2 months has been so unforgettable to me. I never thought I would ever love these people so much and as quickly as I do but I do and it has made rough times better, allowed me to feel comfortable, made this dorm a home and made this year even better.
My Friends: From my AMAZING Her Campus E-Board, to my friends I’ve made all throughout campus, I feel so centered and loved in my life here at St. John’s. Even visits from my friends back home remind me that although not everyone who I was once close with is still in my life, there are others who still love me and want to stick around. It reminds me even when I feel like I’m not doing enough or not a good friend, that the friendships I do have still are the ones worth pouring into. They’re the ones who will support me and love me for me, which is something I really need. I’m so grateful for all the friends I’ve made since coming to this school, and for all the friendships that stuck it out after all these years. It’s really nice knowing people will support you and love you, even when you can’t. And people like that really brighten my day and remind me day in and day out how lucky I am to have so many great people in my life.
God: Like everyone else, my life has been so complex and such a rollercoaster. But I have had so many opportunities and blessings in my life, that at the end of it all, I don’t have much to complain about. Alongside the hard work and support that my parents have tirelessly been giving me to give me the best life, I truly believe God has held our hands through all of it and supported all of us to get where we are. I feel like when my life got hard, prayer really saved me. Putting my issues and struggles aside and into the hands of the Lord to handle truly has made my stress and anxiety go down and made my life feel more fulfilled and easier. I don’t know where I would be without God, and know for a fact that my successes are all a part of his gift and plan for me and can’t talk about being grateful without being grateful for him.
I am beyond blessed, I truly am. Just this past year, I managed to hold 3 different jobs, earn high positions in organizations on campus that have helped me in so many ways and just grow so much as an individual that I can’t name everything I am grateful for, but rather who I am grateful for that got me to this place. I hope that as I grow, I remember to thank these people and everyone else for how they’ve contributed to my life on a regular basis and constantly remind them how much I truly love them all.