Senior Year Goals

Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca, NY

Hey, guys!

I think the last week of my last summer break calls for some self-reflection...

So, in a few days I'm heading back to school for my senior year. I repeat: Senior. Year. Woah. Totally insane! This summer just flew by--it always seems to go by too fast, doesn't it? And honestly, the past three years flew by even faster! I can't believe that I'm about to enter the final year of my undergraduate career. It seems like just yesterday I was frantically applying to colleges, scared that I wouldn't be accepted anywhere (which was an anxiety I completely regret ever giving into, because I was accepted into all but one of the schools I applied to and I was really just selling myself short!). Once I committed to Ithaca College, the next four years of my life were set; I didn't have to worry about what came next...until now.


My whole life, I was told to do this and that so I could get into a good college. In college, I was told to complete as many internships as possible and to take as many opportunities as they were granted. Yet, now that college is 3/4 of the way done, I don't even know what I did all of those internships and activities for. I learned A LOT and thoroughly enjoyed working for four different arts organizations over the past four summers, and I know that I'd like to work in the arts, but doing what exactly? I have no clue.


It seems like everyone and their sister is studying for their GREs, LSATs, Praxis, is getting ready to apply to med school, or has some other grand plan, and here I am, the girl who loves to plan everything out, uncertain of what comes next. I know that I'm not alone in this; I'm not the first person to go into senior year unsure of what I want to do with the rest of my life, but that doesn't mean that it isn't scary.


A few weeks ago, it really started to hit me that less from year from now I'll be graduated and applying for jobs. The anxiety really started to kick in and I found myself panicking about my future. This somehow came up in conversation (most definitely because it was on my mind 24/7), and I spent the last hour of my internship speaking with my two very lovely bosses about all of my career worries. It was such a relief to hear about their own journeys which led them to their current careers. They ended up in a similar place, yet both took completely different paths to get there. I walked out of the NJPAC Arts Ed building with a feeling of content and warmth after that talk (I was of course also walking out teary eyed because I'm sentimental af and miss working there for those lovely ladies, but I was still very relieved to know that I'm not alone :)).


Since then, I've been much calmer about everything. I'm really looking forward to going back to Ithaca and seeing my friends and professors, and getting back into the swing of things. I really love my school and I love learning, so I'm just going to try to soak in these last two semesters I have at the wonderful and amazing place that is Ithaca College.


For now, my senior year goals are:

• To work as hard as I can--without burning myself out--to get good grades for myself, because when it comes down to it, grades don't really matter that much, especially not as much as my health!
• To listen to my body in terms of the diet and rest that it needs
• To explore the last few gorges that I have yet to see in the gorgeous town where I go to school
• To include mindfulness in my daily routine
• To be adventurous and not overthink too much
• To write something every day, even if it's just a sentence or two
• To learn more about myself and what I'm passionate about
• To keep reminding myself that things don't always work out as planned, but surely do work out the way they're supposed to !

With these goals in mind, I'm going to try to think about my future in a less urgent way; I just have to know how to take the next step, not how to walk the whole mile.


What are your goals for the upcoming school year or even the rest of 2018? Feel free to comment below, and also make sure to follow me on Instagram @shes.radiant where I'll be sharing updates on my life at school, including all of the yummy and (mostly) healthy foods I love to make--and eat!!


Thanks for stayin' with me! :)


Xoxo,
Anastasia