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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at C of C chapter.

The past two years or so of life have been absolutely crazy. Many things that occurred in this time frame I truly thought would never happen. There was an entire pandemic, a new style of learning, pain, frustration, and many other intense things. Life was flipped completely upside down.

I barely remember life before the pandemic. I was barely a legal adult by the time this all started. The girl I was then and the girl I am today are so different. The girl I was with had to maneuver through many uphill battles. She had to grow, not that she wanted to, but she needed to. Me and the version of myself from two years ago have nothing in common. She only listened to Kanye and drank Starbucks almost every day because it was trendy. The girl I see in the mirror today listens to almost every genre and tries to drink coffee from local shops, because that is trendy. The girl today is so different. This version of me loves jazz, art museums, and actually wearing my glasses- past me would have thought that wasn’t fun at all. All the changing in me has been so amazing, yet so hard. I have lost so many people and parts of me during this journey. It truly has been painful, but maybe it was just growing pains. The truth is growing really does hurt. Think about how bad you could feel when you grow taller as a kid, I think people experience that same pain in this case. Getting taller is a version of growing pain that is physical, but I think the growing pain I am experiencing is emotional. This has been a time for me where I have grown out of things. This can be people, places, hobbies, and even emotions themselves. Growing out of these things requires pain though. If I don’t experience growing pains, did I truly grow? I think the last couple years have truly been a time of growing for me. I even see this idea in my daily life sometimes. Like at this exact moment. I am living in the most beautiful city, attending the college of my dreams, and writing while listening to some good tunes. This is something that past me would have thought was so cool. She was not the version of me that could give me this life, but she wanted it. And that’s why we need growing pains. 

Jaccie Reaves

C of C '23

Jaccie is an Arts Management major with a concentration in the Music Industry. Aside from academics, Jaccie is a DJ at the College of Charleston's radio station, CisternYard Radio. Jaccie is passionate about agriculture, music, mental health, comedy, shopping local and self expression. You can find Jaccie walking down king street with an iced coffee in hand or having a study break at the Battery. Jaccie is a Virgo sun, Taurus moon, and Pisces rising.