Who remembers being able to wake up and the only thing you would worry about was what was being served in the cafeteria for the day? Being young was so much easier; I remember I would be able to relax all summer, and now I have bills. My “Hot Girl Summer” quickly turned into a working girl summer.
Catching a tan, binge-watching my favorite show and spending time with friends is something I would look forward to every summer but as I got older, responsibilities came knocking at my door and I did not want to answer. This year I definitely learned the hard way of adulting.
I wanted to shop, eat out and party all summer. Thinking like a girl in her twenties: my money will last all summer if I spend wisely. Spending wisely turned into eating out every day, shopping for new outfits and planning beach trips. Balancing my money became the root of all my problems, starting with bills. If you’re like me and have no car, transportation plays a big part as well. It came to a point where I would check my bank account every day to see if I could spend a little here and there, but BOOM study abroad fees slapped me right on my head.
I wanted to travel, learn a new culture and try something new. I wanted to do that without putting in the work, and while recklessly spending money reality checked me real quick this summer. Towards the beginning of June, I quickly got two jobs and worked seven days a week with no days off. Although having two jobs would seem like a success because of the extra money, it was quite tiring. I was drained and stressed leading to a big let go in my life.
As an adult, you are supposed to make time for work, family and friends, but sometimes it can be hard and you have to put more energy into some things rather than others. I ended a friendship of 15 years and I didn’t have time to feel bad or be sad, I had to get back to work and create the future I plan for myself. You can call me selfish but people come and go, that’s another thing about “adulting”; having an open door for anyone to walk in and out, including opportunities.
My major in college is Fashion Studies and even though I am out of school during the summer, I like to take my time to learn new styles and continue to have my experience and knowledge of the field progress. One opportunity I gained was to work in the fashion field and even as a sales associate I learned about trending styles and possibly having the opportunity to become a mentor for someone else in the near future.
At the end of my summer, my one failure that I will continue to work on is balancing. Learning how to balance financially. Money has always been an issue for me but I’m learning by creating a goal and maintaining my own financial stability by saving every penny. Balancing my personal life is difficult, I already lost some people and others I just held the door open for them, I will try to be patient with the new, amazing people I let slide into my life. No one is perfect at adulting, but what I can say is you do learn to grasp on and continue to work hard. I’m still learning at the age of 21 how to balance my life. I may never get “adulting”, but I will never stop trying. Here’s to summer of 2019: working girl summer.