Tag: junior year

Are You Sure I’m Almost a Senior?

Are You Sure I’m Almost a Senior?

I promise you that just last year I was moving into a college dorm for the first time, trying to decide on a major and making new friends.

Or maybe I was back for round two, just starting to get the hang of things, making some really good friends and even spending a semester abroad at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center.

Okay, Okay then I’ve only just begun year three, finally getting to move off-campus, am excited about my major and am embracing being an upperclassman.

But there’s no way I’m almost a senior.

Then again…

For the past three years I’ve been calling Chicago and Loyola home. These years have felt like some of the fastest of my life. As they say, ‘Time flies when you’re having fun!’ Which I would say has been exactly the case for me. Sure, I’ve faced my fair share of stresses and hardships during my college experience, but honestly I wouldn’t take any of it back.

My junior year has been especially good to me. I’ve finally chosen a major that I’m excited about in Public Relations and am looking forward to another year of classes at the School of Communication. And thanks to some inspiration from a favorite Loyola professor of mine, I’ve also added a Marketing minor. My classes this year have pushed me academically, made me a better writer and helped shape my worldview.

I’ve gotten to live with some incredible girls during my time at LUC and this year has been no exception. I’ve loved having the chance to live in an apartment off-campus where I get to be more connected to the Rogers Park community.  This year I got much better about getting out and exploring the city and hope to continue doing so over the next year. (One of my new favorite foods is Spanish tapas–which are especially good at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba in Lincoln Park!)

This year I’ve experienced the most personal growth yet, academically, spiritually and in my relationships, for which I am truly grateful.

My college experience has been completely different than what my freshman-self would have expected and everything my (almost) senior-self could hope for. I’m not sure what this next year will bring or what will follow, but I think I’ll have a hard time topping my junior year at LUC.

So I guess that after looking back on it all again, it does seem like it’s time for me to be a senior. Even if I’m not quite ready to admit it.

Adjustments

Adjustments

I’m back from a semester abroad, I’ve moved off campus, and I’m an upperclassman. Fall 2015 has been a period of adjusting to say the least.

Last spring I had probably the best semester of my college career studying at the John Felice Rome Center. So being back in Chicago has been a little more challenging than I anticipated. I absolutely love going to school in Chicago, but not being able to explore a new country every weekend is a bit of a bummer. I’m also back to taking classes for my major rather than taking courses about Italian language, literature, and culture. But I’m adjusting.

This year I signed my first apartment lease and get to live off-campus with two of my best friends. We decorated our apartment perfectly and it makes Chicago feel that much more like home. But off-campus living isn’t all bliss, now I have to begin the adjustment to adulthood as we pay bills, deal with our landlord, and leave on-campus living luxuries behind (i.e. wi-fi and dining halls).  But I’m adjusting.

I’ve finally made it to upperclassman status, which has been absolutely surreal. It feels like I was a junior in high school about two minutes ago, so how on earth did I make it to my junior year of college? Now that I’ve finally adjusted to being in college, I’m nearly finished. Which really freaks me out. I’ve finally made it through most of my CORE classes (LUC’s fancy way to structure “gen eds”) and nearly all my classes pertain to my major (and I’m still adjusting to even having a major). I’m at a point in my life where I thought I’d have things pretty well figured out. As it turns out I’m not quite there yet. But I’m adjusting.

We’re already halfway through the semester, but I’m still working on adjusting to doing college in the US again, living in a real Chicago apartment, and being half way through my college career.

I’ll let you know if I ever actually adjust.

AHH. I’M NOT READY.

AHH. I’M NOT READY.

My junior year at Loyola starts in 10 days. As the title to this blog post clearly states – I’m not ready, at all.

Between working all the time and moving out, this summer has flown by. I still have so much to do in the upcoming week – I still need to buy my textbooks, school supplies and get ready for my clinical, among other tasks. However, there is one thing I have already done. And that’s get and decorate my planner.

In high school, I didn’t really use an assignment notebook until my senior year, when I needed to organize clubs and college applications and all of my AP classes. Now, at least during the school year, you won’t see my anywhere without it.

This year, I opted for a black model from Barnes and Noble, covered with some of my favorite quotes.

Since I’m completely bogged down and don’t really have time to share all my pre school prep with y’all, I’d though I’d at least share all of the quotes!

Enjoy, and talk to you when I’m more settled with things!

Because she wasn’t listening. It wasn’t a war story. It was a love story.”
Ridiculous. There is no ordinary person.”
People say that they can’t run away from their problems. But you know what? They just weren’t running fast enough.”
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
I often carry things to read/so that I will not to have to look at/ the people.”
Don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead.”
It is nothing to die, it is horrible not to live.”
But this too is true: stories can save us.”
Fifty years from now, when you’re looking back at your life, don’t you want to be able to say you had the guys to get in the car?”
Does the human hear know chasms so abysmal?”
I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dream of improbable dreams.”
“‘I just won’t sleep,’ I decided. There were so many other interesting things to do.”