I am now in my second year at UCI, and a lot has changed since writing my previous articles. I wanted to update you on how I’ve been doing recently and the current season of life I’m in. Please read this as a chatty journal entry:Â
So like I mentioned, I am currently in my second year in college which means I am no longer living in the dorms. At the beginning of the fall quarter, my roommates and I moved into apartments where we all have our rooms and share a living room and kitchen, which is a different experience than my first year of college. I am an extremely independent person that craves personal space and time alone, so I’m thankful to no longer be doing (LOL). I love the apartment that my roommates and I share, I love being able to have my own bedroom where I can have time to myself but still live with girls that have become some of my closest friends. Apartment life has been wonderful for me considering the type of person that I am. I’m able to start my nighttime routine as early as I want and not have to sleep in a twin-size bed. Now, I only share a bathroom with one of my roommates, which is much better than sharing a bathroom with 5+ girls like in the dorms. But thankfully, we also have a living room where my roommates and I can spend time together watching movies, and talking, and a kitchen where I can cook myself the foods that I want and meal prep for the week, which is become a weekly non-negotiable and lifesaver in college.Â
Aside from housing, I am also now working two on-campus jobs as well as being a full-time student. At the end of my freshman year when I knew that I would be taking on these two jobs at the same time, the idea was overwhelming and stressful because I didn’t know how I would manage the two, classes, my mental health, and my personal life. However, now that I have been accomplishing all those tasks for about two quarters now, I’m glad I went through with everything because it isn’t as bad as I originally thought. But of course, anything that is unknown at the moment causes panic and fear. So many times college has taught me that it’s not as bad as it seems and that everything will end up working out the way it’s meant to. I truly believe that and have to remind myself of that all the time. Working two jobs, being a full-time student, taking care of myself, and prioritizing the people in my life that brings me happiness is difficult to do, but something that I need to learn how to balance as I approach more “ adulthood duties”.Â
I am finished with all of my GE classes and started my second year taking major and minor required courses, which I have loved. I feel as though these courses challenge me more in the ways that I want to be challenged because the topics are interesting of what I want to be learning. So I have been loving those courses and figuring out what other majors I want to accomplish during my time here at UCI. This year has been filled with many learning lessons in my personal life and also in my academic life. If you were to ask me my freshman year what do you want to do when you grow up? I would have told you that I don’t know because coming from a small town I wasn’t exposed to a lot of potential careers. And this year has changed that. I am now narrowing the gap and networking with people that have careers that I can be potentially interested in. I have also eliminated some career avenues that seemed interesting at the time but now I realize aren’t the best fit for me and what I want out of life.Â
So far, college has been one huge learning experience which is what it is meant to be and what life is in general. I see the world as if nothing is permanent and despite the mistakes I make and challenges coming and going, all I can do is learn from the experience, move on, and hopefully do better. I am thankful that college has given me the space to learn academically, professionally, and personally. I have learned so much about myself and I’m constantly working towards being a better version of the person that I want to be, which is emotional to think about because two years ago this time I was a senior in high school during covid lockdown not happy with my life and completely unsure of where the future would take me. I’m fortunate to have this college experience and happy to be enjoying this season of my life.Â