Thanks, Junior Year

Looking back on these last nine months, I'm overwhelmed wrapping my head around the adventures and experiences that enriched my junior year of college. If I had to choose just one word to describe how I feel when I think about the past two semesters at school it would have to be grateful. I am beyond grateful for my education, my best friends, the memories, adventures, and even failures and challenges that occurred this year.

Having transferred to Wisconsin last year as a sophomore, this year really felt like the first time I knew what I was doing at school. This year I solidified my friend group, major, favorite places on campus, and overall comfortability. This year reassured me that everything always happens for a reason, and everything will work out as it should. At the end of this year, my biggest takeaway is definitely that I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Something about this school just feels so much more "right" than Lehigh did. 

This year wasn't just amazing because it was fun. Don't get me wrong-- the fun that I had this year was beyond anything I could have dreamed of. Just living with my best friends, there was fun in every single day. I don't think anyone can ever have too much fun, but if that were possible, I definitely had way, way, way too much fun :)

I was accepted into the business school last summer, so this year was my first year taking business classes, including my first major class. This year I declared my major as Information Systems in the business school, somehow managed to make it through my first Computer Science class (not gonna lie though, I am so happy that's over!) and maintain a really strong GPA. This year's course load felt nearly impossible at times, but I still managed to meet my academic goals.

This year I was also on the Executive Board for UW's Student Retail Association. This position involved creating SRA's first website by myself, traveling to New York over winter break for a conference, and also visiting Chicago a few months ago for another industry trip. I made new friends, expanded my network, and gained a lot of insight into working in the retail industry. SRA provided me with an amazing network of people and really unique, cool opportunities for which I am additionally grateful.

Another school-related thing I did... A few weeks ago I participated in a case competition for Intuit with my group-mates from my first Information Systems class. Case competitions are an amazing thing to add to your resume in addition to being really good networking and problem-solving experience. The Wisconsin School of Business offers a few throughout the school year and this was my second one. I really love doing them and couldn't recommend them more! If you're in college and looking for something to add to a resume, I would definitely suggest looking into doing a case competition.

In my personal life, this year was also... important? I don't know the right word for how to describe this. Let's just say this year taught me how rewarding it can be to say "yes" as much as possible. I did a lot of experimenting this year with friends, opportunities, and random other activities, and it made the year all the more exciting and adventurous. Between saying yes to attending different events on campus, to trying new things with new people, and even accepting things that didn't work out the way I wanted to, I feel like I learned a lot about what I want in my future this year.

There were moments this year that I felt like everything in my life could not possible be better, and moments when I felt that everything was going wrong. In the end, this year taught me that people come and go, mistakes aren't the end of the world, and something better is always yet to come. This year also taught me how lucky I am to have my best friends in my life. I love them so, so much, and they have been the biggest part in making my junior year as amazing as it was.

I am so thankful for each of you for following along on another year of my adventures, even though I know I wasn't the best at keeping you all updated or staying consistent throughout this year. There were more changes this year than any other, both academically and personally, especially when it comes to friends, relationships, and overall personal achievements and adventures. I truly appreciate all of the love and support, and I can't wait to see what is in store for my senior year of college.

Please share your favorite thing about your year at school! I would love to hear how this year treated you and follow along on your adventures as well.
xoxo