Throughout high school and college, summers are pretty much interchangeable. There is no school unless you are taking summer classes; you might have a part time job, you may relocate or you may not, but at the end of the day, preparing for the past 16 summers has been a routine. Now, as I approach graduation and will be entering the career field, I have to navigate a lot of new territory. In the past I always felt like summer was a relief even if there was a small change or challenge that was different from the summer before. In the present and looking to the future, it feels as if there are hundreds of changes happening and hundreds of changes about to happen. While I am motivated, organized, and detail oriented, I am still juggling times where I am overwhelmed. With that, I am here to write about my current goals, habits for initiating and adapting to change, and mindsets that help me.
First off, I know I said that it feels as if hundreds of changes are currently happening and about to happen, but I want to emphasize that as a positive thing. It can be overwhelming, and at times I was consumed by the overwhelmingness of it, but I rerouted my thoughts to help me. Instead of looking at it like hundreds of individual changes, I am looking at graduation and the next step in my life as one whole change; that is, a fresh start. Throughout college I have juggled numerous jobs, clubs, friends, breakups, relationships, and the list goes on. I have so much to be happy and grateful for, so much so that I was avoiding leaving Durham in every way possible at one point. In a matter of a month, my perspectives, emotions, relationships, and future have transformed. I once thought that graduating college single or moving away would be terrifying. That is because you have to enter the unknown alone and everything is new. Now, I believe graduating college as a single individual moving to a new city is a fresh start; an opportunity to find myself. While being alone is a genuine fear of mine, I now have plenty of time, space, and opportunities to overcome that fear.
With that being said, I hope that everyone takes at least one risk (a safe one) or takes on one challenge this summer. I also hope that everyone takes advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and trust the process in the meantime. Overall, my point is, that if you asked me a month ago, I would not have predicted that I would be moving out of my apartment early, moving to a different state, and starting over as a single individual. I was offered a job in a different state and took a leap of faith. Now, I have many things to get in order so that I can take advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. Each day, each summer, and each year will be different from the next and we go through these changes all of the time without realizing. The transition from spring to summer, friend to friend, relationship to being single, school to a career, and many more may be scary and overwhelming, but it is just a chapter in each of our books. Therefore, push yourself, take a leap of faith, and follow your heart!