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SBU | Life

A Year in Review

Katie McKee Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Though the new year started almost three months ago, it’s the beginning of MY new year. 

My birthday just came around again, for the 20th time, and I thought, what better way for me to go into the 20th version of me than with a little reflection on the 19th version? 

In the past year, a lot has changed in my life while also not being that different at all. 

I started the year out in not the best place. I was still a freshman in college, but I barely had any friends, and every weekend my closest friend would go home (my roomie). 

This was amazing and terrible. During that time, my roomie and I got close because we only had each other instead of a whole friend group. But it was also extremely difficult for me. Three hours away from home, I spent most of the time she wasn’t there alone.

I had my friend group from the first semester, but I was the only girl left in the dwindling group and could not bear hanging out with three guys every single minute of every single weekend. Eventually, I just gave up on them, too. Probably for the better (kinda?). 

One day, my roomie told me that some of the girls on the dance team were gonna go to lunch with us, and then our little friend group grew to three. 

Our new friend gave me someone to hang out with on the weekends. Though I didn’t necessarily want to, I did go out a couple of times, which makes me grateful that I put myself out there, and now I can look back and laugh.

Though I didn’t do much over the second semester, the little time I was able to just have those girls was so nice. It was the most refreshing thing. We had the best moments of laughter about the most random stuff in the most random places. 

We had a lot of catching up to do from the last 19-ish years of our lives, and we didn’t leave out much. 

Then, my boyfriend, one of the guys from that friend group, and I started dating. The last three weeks of the second semester went by way too fast, and I was starting to actually like college again. 

Summer was tough.

It was my first time doing long distance, and it was less than a month into our relationship, and it wasn’t easy at all. But we were fortunate enough to be able to visit each other numerous times throughout the summer. 

One weekend in the summer, me and my new girlfriends were able to meet up at one of their cabins. We had the weekend to ourselves, and it was amazing. No school, no work, just us.

But the time I spent with my family was the best thing to grace this earth. It was a long first year of school, but being back home with my parents and sisters was the reset I needed. 

We went to Boston, M.A., and Wake Forest, N.C. The vacation was so so nice!

But I also had to work, which is not my favorite thing in the whole world, being a Tops cashier. I would say there are a lot more downs than ups, but that is for another time. 

I also got to go to my first-ever wedding. It was for my cousin, and, as a romantic, it was the most beautiful experience I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of.

In September, we were back on campus for semester three, but not much happened. It was a pretty easy semester for me, which I think is going to be pretty rare in the future, so I will definitely take it. 

Of course, there was a lot of time spent with my amazing friends and boyfriend the second we got back, not wanting to get back to school.

Most weekends, I would go to my boyfriend’s house and watch the Bills games with his entire family. As someone who isn’t, or should I say wasn’t, a major Bills fan, those games were a bit overwhelming. 

No matter how much I overthought throughout this semester, I made it through everything

Christmas break came and went so quickly, and for the first time since moving in at the beginning of Freshman year,  I was a little excited to move back to campus. Maybe it was just because I didn’t have to work anymore, or maybe it was because I knew I wouldn’t be alone when I got back to campus. But either way, it was nice. 

And here I am in my fourth semester of college, joining a new club and trying to put myself out there a little more. Classes are stressful, as I predicted, but I know everything will be fine. 

I can’t wait for everything terrible and amazing to happen this year because it makes me, me! Here’s to my 20’s!!

Katie McKee

SBU '27

Katie McKee is a sophomore member of Her Campus in the St. Bonaventure chapter. In her first semester in Her Campus she plans on writing about her experiences, movies, books, college, and anything else that makes her happy.

Katie is an Inclusive, Early Childhood and Childhood Education major, with a concentration in math. She is a member of both Bona Buddies and Club Soccer at SBU. She has always enjoyed journaling, and is excited to see what Her Campus has to offer.

In her free time, Katie likes to spend time with her friends on campus, and values her time at home with family. She loves reading a good romance or historical fiction, like “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, listening to her favorite artists, like Noah Kahan and the Lumineers, or playing a good board game.