looking at my final semester

Two posts in one night!! --- don't get used to this :)
I just wanted to share some thoughts I had and priorities I've set for myself while looking ahead to this final semester of my college career.


So here’s what this semester looks like on the surface for me…

-I’m almost done with college and I’m back to being single. Yikes?
-I’m living at home again
-Goodbye freedom
-Hello 18 credit hours of all studio classes
-Time to be an adult = no more bad ‘college phase’ decisions, job searching, figuring out where to go from here



But here’s my hope of what it can also look like…

-I want to be intentional with the kind of presence I bring to this house every day. While I’m still emotionally torn over no longer living in my apartment at school and coming back to this structure of living I left when I was 18, I want to try my best to be a blessing in my household. I want to be relational and I want to be inspirational. I want to be faithful about working out and faithful about using my creativity and putting everything I have into my school work. I want to be observant of others’ needs. I want to lighten the mood by making people smile and laugh every day. I want to bring new life and energy into this house. I want to do zumba in the lving room and learn how to cook new foods and read books and learn how to make websites and edit photos and share all of that with my family. I want to be a great big sister and friend for my little brother. I want to engage in conversation as much as I can. I want to be a blessing in this house every day.. not a burden.

-I want to be intentional about the key friendships in my life. I don’t want to guilt myself about trying to be an everywhere friend to everyone anymore. I’m so blessed by every person in my life, from those best friends who influence my life daily to those acquaintances I pass on the sidewalks who offer me a smile even when they probably feel awkward because we don't really know each other but we kind of do so they think they should probably be nice.. (Am I the only one who goes through this thought process when passing someone on a sidewalk? haha) But going into my last semester I will recognize the people who have meant the most to me and who encourage me to be the best version of myself and who I don’t have to pretend I’m someone else with. I will invest myself in those friendships by intentionally checking in on people even when I’m busy and making plans to spend time together and serving them and loving them the best I can. I will be intentional about this by getting into the practice of thinking of myself less and of others more. I believe I read once in some form of psychology literature that it’s typical and healthy to only be able to really cultivate strong ‘close friendships’ with 5 people at any given time in your life. This often frustrates me because I see or I meet all of these really nice and interesting people and wish I could be best friends with them… and sometimes God does His work and makes room for them in my circle of whichever five close friends I may be keeping at that time.. but other times, they don’t make it past the ‘good friends’ or ‘casual friends’ or ‘aquaintances’ or ‘stranger that I stalk on facebook from time to time’ category. And that’s okay. But going into my last semester of my college experience I am going to thank God for those special few who have made their way into my ‘close friends’ category and do my best to cherish them and love them every day.


-I want to be intentional about growing in my relationship with the Lord and also letting myself heal from past heartache and mistakes. I will listen to others’ advice. I will spend time in prayer every day. I will listen to God and learn to discern His voice better. I will grow through community and through studying the Word. I will serve.

-I want to prepare myself for life after college. I will be tempted to feel like I’m taking steps backwards by living at home again but I will choose to look at this as the right place I need to make the transition from my college experience to what life holds for me after graduation. I will work on doing everything I need to do to be ready for whatever may come. I will put my best into my school projects while I continue to fight off senioritis. I will value instruction from my professors and critiques from my classmates. I will push myself to become a better designer and produce my best work yet. I will take action to learn those life skills I never took the time to learn before such as cooking basic meals and budgeting my spending and paying off loans. I will get myself healthy: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I will not compromise my dreams but I will make decisions that enable me to achieve them. I will learn from mistakes, I will make changes, I will take risks, I will continue to make mistakes, I will keep the process of growth going.