Summer: three months of ease, rest, and realization. An opportunity at finding the self, at growing the self, at accepting the self. That’s what my three free months consisted of as I pondered the inevitable arrival of my senior year, and then the inevitable arrival of true adulthood that comes after graduation. It is a time that is coming all too soon, and that is making me question whether I’m truly ready to live my life or if I should hide in this safety net that is school, which is stalling the start of my future.
inevitable: (adj.) incapable of being avoided or evaded
I’ve decided to really embrace my senior year, to treat it as if it’s my most essential year. It is undoubtedly the year when shit gets real, so naturally, I found some ways to stay acquainted. It was necessary to switch things up in order to hop into senior year head-on.
One thing that I revived after starting school was journaling.In fact, I do it almost daily now, instead of sporadically over the months like I did before. I use one notebook for my current thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and another notebook for translating everything in my mind to poetry. Personal journaling is my usual method, but there’s something about the perplexity of poetry that exercises my mind an additional step more. I don’t write poetry nearly as often (only when the brain power is there), but it’s fun to challenge my creativity every once in a while.
Along with that, I gave myself a challenge that would only be beneficial to my pleasure. I had a professor last semester tell me something that I thought was really important: make time to read for fun at the end of your day, whether it be 100 pages, 50 pages, or 5. Don’t dedicate your entire day to working on schoolwork you don’t want to do, or reading material you wouldn’t choose to read. Designate a time for your own enjoyment and you will notice the positive results.
Surprisingly, another thing that I did during the first couple weeks of my semester was join a new club. It may seem a little pointless since it’s my senior year, but some time is better than no time. Better late than never. If this is the last chance I get at being in a community like college, then I’m going to take the risk of doing new things while I can.
One final and arguably most important change that I’ve been gradually implementing is the art of growing my own food and making foods by scratch. It started with my newfound love of growing anything and everything I could in my backyard: strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, carrots, lavender, and mint. Then I explored what I could make with this produce, and the recipes expanded from there. This summer, I found some of the best cookie recipes, challenged myself to try difficult recipes that I would typically shy away from, taught myself how to bake my own sandwich bread, and started making many other things from scratch. There’s something so rewarding about making my own food and knowing what ingredients are going into it. Eating clean and mindfully is super important to me, so this new hobby has truly opened my eyes to an entirely different lifestyle.
The person that I am slowly becoming is someone that I am proud of. I never know what the next day will bring, but I am excited for each day like it’s a new opportunity to learn or create something different. This mindful, organic life that I’m living feels much more rewarding than any other phase I’ve lived before.
Perhaps we should be viewing our changes as improvements instead. Perhaps the title of this article should be named “Improvements I’ve Made to Welcome My Senior Year” instead. I’d like to say that I changed over the summer, but I know that’s not true. I am still me, but instead with a number of improvements.
This is your sign to make those healthy improvements for yourself. Get out of that slump. Lose that continuous cycle of unfulfillment. You have the chance to view life in such a wider, clearer lens; it would be a crime not to take it. We all have the ability to make our lives beautiful, but we can’t expect to find that beauty without putting in the effort. Whether you’re a senior like me or just starting your freshman year, be the person that you would be proud of. You might be surprised at the outcomes.