I Love It Here!

Keeping cool when everyone else is abroad

I have been very intentional about my intake of Instagram posts and stories from my friends abroad. I love seeing the unique experiences, yummy food, aesthetics, ie, everything fun and notably not-Wake. Keeping up with my currently-long-distance friends’ lives is enriching. What a cool life they are living!

But then again…

What a cool life they are living.

I get quite jealous quite fast, and the thing is, I knew I would when I made the choice to go abroad in spring instead of fall at Wake. With the influx of abroad content on my feed, there was no way I would get away unscathed by the excitement my friends (and not just my friends, even random mutuals) are having. 

Luckily, I’m having an incredible time holding the fort down stateside before we switch spots in a few months. Soon enough, I’ll be across the Atlantic and they’ll be here. There isn’t one way that is inherently better than the other; the point of studying abroad is how we broaden our horizons, not finding the “better” choice. However, with how social media presents itself, we are led to believe that our current situation is less-than those we see on Instagram. Minute snapshots of their larger-than-life experiences can’t capture the full picture; we only get the highlights (sue me, that’s the best way to say it regardless of how overused the saying is). 

In short, I’ve been seeing so much awesome, amazing, super cool stuff online from my friends abroad. However, I’ve had to be purposeful in seeing the beauty in my own lived experience happening at the moment. I love it here! I’m happy here! And I’ll be abroad soon. But for now, here are some of my favorite things about my junior fall at Wake thus far: 

I have the most adorable, functional on-campus apartment with my closest friends. Our apartment has become a sanctuary for my own sanity during this busy season, but is simultaneously filled with so much love and life! 

I have deepened pre-existing connections and forged new friendships this semester, which have fueled my social output (this is huge for little old introverted Makena). My people are the best and I’m so happy to have expanded my circle. 

I have gotten to take some of my favorite classes thus far in my college career (genuinely– I’m not just saying that), which has reconnected me to my academics in a way I didn’t realize I was slipping from. Going into the latter half of my time at Wake, this shift has been so motivational. 

I have been lucky enough to take on multiple leadership roles in addition to the ones I previously held. My interests have become more and more curated just as my time has become less and less free; being able to be involved with intention, and have high impact with that, is an amazing feeling. 

(Let me circle back to my perfect little apartment briefly: having a kitchen is game changing.)

I have been able to remain close to home (I’m local to Winston-Salem!) as my younger siblings go through various milestones in getting older. I’m so proud and lowkey sick with nostalgia for simpler times, but am glad I get to witness these developments. 

I have seen so many different iterations of myself these past 2.5 years of undergrad, and I’m loving this current version the most!

Basically, life is great when I don’t value one junior-fall experience over another. And as I say in almost all my Her Campus pieces, I’m not perfect and I will continue to be a hypocrite occasionally. But that’s okay! And so is my cute little on-campus life I’m living at the moment. 

• college
• friends
• life
• mental health
• social media