Senior Year, Welcome

I didn't believe people when they said that college would fly by. 

When I was in freshman and sophomore year I felt like I was going to be in college forever.  Living on campus puts you in this strange bubble where the only thing you know is your campus and your college friends. By the time I became a senior, I became comfortable living in that bubble and I actively looked forward to going back to it at the end of every summer. Once I graduate in May, that's pretty much the end of my life as a kid. Once I step off campus the my start of my life as a working woman will begin its first chapter. 

Since I want to be a teacher I'm going to have summers off (which I'm glad about) and I already work during the school year so I don't think adjusting to a full-time job will be that much different. 

However, I'm going to miss school as a structure. I'm going to miss being evaluated by tests and having to study and take classes that you don't really care about just because you want to sit in a classroom and get credits for something and maybe learn something. It's going to be weird to wake up and do the same exact thing every day for seemingly forever. It sounds kind of depressing... 

There's also the upside that once I get out of school I will be completely free to do whatever I want. I'll be able to work longer hours so I can make more money and start doing things that I want to do whenever I have the free time to do it. I'm excited to see where my future will take me and where I'll be next summer whether I'll be working in China or working here. I used to always think it was a good thing that I could go anywhere and do anything after college but having this whole open mindset and no exact direction is turning into something that's new and frightening. The ability to go anywhere used to be coveted and now that I have it I don't really know what I want to do with it. 

I know two big things that are true. 

Number one: Anywhere Amanda goes I will follow. Vincent once said that a friend of mine had 'found her people' when we started seeing her less and less because she entered a new friend group. At first, I was jealous but now I'm really happy for her. I can finally relate because Amanda is 'my people' (er, I guess 'my person'?). I would follow her to the ends of the Earth if that meant staying together. 

Number two: I want to travel and try things I've never done before. I want to go on trips or live somewhere temporarily or just do something to put myself outside of my comfort zone. I don't want to do it alone though. I'm praying that Amanda or Vincent can come with me so that we can all adventure together. At the end of the day, I don't know if I want to stay in New York or even America at all, I just know I want to go and experience everything I can before I settle down and build my life.

I'm ready to jump into senior year and what is to come, so here's a scrapbook/ collection of my summer and my first few days back at school. I've been really into the app Huji Cam (also called Kuji Cam) these days, so a lot of my photos have that disposable camera feel to them! It's free on the Google Play store :)