My 2021 Reflection: About 10 years ago, when I first started my blog, I came to enjoy a now-defunct online community for 20 something bloggers. There was a blog swap that day, and I posted what you’ll soon be reading below. I wrote this in reflection of leaving my college days behind, and even now, I recognize that time period as one that I truly enjoyed. Funny thing is, the blog I had originally posted this on, had deleted it. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, I got it back.
In June of this year, I graduated from college. And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t have classes. I wasn’t looking forward to the fall when a new school year would start. I had been released from my title as a college student. I was now a college graduate. It has been an amazing feeling; very different from most of my summertime experiences.
When I was younger (pre-college days), I hated summer vacation. Really, I did. You would think three months of nothing to do would be wonderful, but I have always had trouble with that much free time and usually by the time August rolled around, I was in tears, I was so restless. As I got older (post-high school days), summer vacations were usually filled with working and classes and that took care of my restless self. So when I graduated this June, I not only completed my time in college, I also completed my work contract with my college and became unemployed.
So, while I have spent most of my summer job hunting, I can’t help but think about the significance of this summer.
I have thought about the changes in my life since I walked across the stage and got my diploma. I have completed my dream of getting my degree. It has been a dream as long as I could remember and I did it. I wasn’t sure how I would do it, to be honest. My mom is a single mom and we didn’t have the money to pay for college. She 100% supported my dream to go, but…we just didn’t know we would make it happen. Well, jump me ahead a few years, I did it. I got my degree.
And it’s weird not being a student anymore and not looking forward to the anticipation of a new school year. I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet and I wonder if I will miss it most when fall comes around. So far, though I have had a lot of new beginnings this summer…
A first for me was the start of my new blog, The World of My Imagination. I had been inspired to create it after having to keep up a site while being a mentor for my college. On the website I created for my job as a mentor, I regularly talked about my work experiences, while also adding creative content and improving the appearances of my little website. I actually enjoyed it and I realized that blogging would be a great extension of that experience.
Not only that, I have finally found the time (and energy) to write again. While the stress and frustration of the job hunt takes much of my time, I have made time for this other life long dream of mine – to write and to be published.
And I have been more forgiving of my writing self than I have been in the past. Usually, when I would finish up my quarter and have time off, I expected that I would write, but I usually didn’t. I would always attribute this to the anticipation of a new term starting, but I didn’t really have the patience for this reasoning. I just wanted to have the energy to write…but I didn’t. So, I got frustrated with this, and what resulted was a healthy dose of writer’s block (although, I have been told countless times that I shouldn’t believe in writer’s block; so let’s just say that I would have a period of time when I my creative self was on pause).
But this summer has been different. I have looked for work, most of the time, but I have made the time to write. And maybe that has softened the blow of saying goodbye to my days as a college student. My dream to become published has been with me for as long as I could remember. And this summer has taught me something incredible that I hope to always keep with me. My writing self may have been on pause while I was in college, but it was never gone completely. It was always there, waiting for just the right moment when it knew it was time.
Really time.
This summer, I completed my long time dream of getting my degree, and now, like a hibernating bear coming out to see if the snow has really gone away, my writing self is taking a ginger step forward and seeing if it’s time for her yet. And you know what?
I think it might be.
And this time, I have patience.
