Summer of Seventeen

Summer ’17 is one for the books! I even might potentially call it my best summer yet. It’s so funny to say that now too because before the summer began when I would talk to my mom, she would keep saying over and over again how excited she was for this summer. I would question her why but she just said, “just cause, I can feel it”. Turns out moms are always right. I thought it would be pretty hard to top last summer for me because I did so many amazing things *mentioned in a prior blog post, go check it out*. And I think that in fact, both summers were the best I’ve ever had but in different ways, almost as if two different people experienced them, which could be quite true.

See your first year of college, as cliché as it might sound, you really do become a whole new person. You learn what it is for you to figure out life as you and on your own terms which make coming back home to the place where you were the prior you for the first summer back means a whole new look at summer and at life at home. This summer brought me back to my family which I value and love so much more because of the long periods of time I spend away from them while at school. I spent the summer balancing more carefully than I ever have my time with family and my time with friends. Family is forever so might as well make some long lasting memories. This came in the form of even the littlest things like spending a night in with my sister on the couch with some popcorn and a good movie or taking my brother and dog to the dog park up the street for an hour or so. Doing these things might have occasionally meant turning down an invite to hang with friends, but in the end, I know it was worth it. And while on the subject of friends, this summer I focused my attention on friends that really mattered. This might sound a bit harsh but it’s the truth. In high school, I tried to hang with everyone and anyone I could so as to accumulate as many friends as possible. Even coming back the first break at Thanksgiving I felt the need to catch up with as many people as possible just to try to keep that pool large. But with such limited time when I was not busy this summer, I really focused on those friendships that I think have stood the toll of time. The ones that I can pick up right back where I left off as if nothing has changed and that will continue to be able to forever. I dedicated time to really flourishing these friendships and diving in as deep as possible in hopes that when I go back to school in a few weeks I will have tons of meaningful memories to look back on. My family and friends made this summer one of the best because it brought me back to focusing on the little things that have big meanings. I even took up an enjoyment in playing old school card and board games with people to pass my evenings by which is something I never thought I would do.

This summer I had a crazy schedule and I didn’t even have to be constantly traveling like last summer to do so because this summer I got my first real job. *gasp* I know right. I’ve never actually had a real job because in high school I was so busy during the school year with school, extracurriculars and dance classes to have an after-school or even weekend job and then same for the summers. I was too busy traveling or going to month long dance intensives for anyone to want to hire me for the times I was at home. But this was my longest summer in length I’ve ever had (ending school the first week of May and not starting class again until the last week of August) and I wasn’t going to have dance classes to keep me busy during my days. So I got a job nannying. I had the most adorable 7 and 4-year-olds who I loved oh so much! They were so much fun to hang out with all day and it really brought me back to my youth. I took them all over the city, rediscovering the places I went to in my childhood and spending days on end in the sun (which helped me gain a little color to my skin which is saying something for a ginger). Their family was such a gem to work for and it was well worth my time. This is what kept me busy most days making my days off really precious time spent hanging with the previously mentioned family and friends or having “me time”.

This job was the first time I’ve had a larger sum of money to be able to spend. In the past, I was doing odd jobs or gaining an allowance to get by and do things with my friends which usually meant it was doing things that were free. But for the first time, I was able to spend more than a few bucks here or there doing things that cost some money. But having more money almost made me more financially conscious. It made me appreciate the fact that in the past I wasn’t forced to get a job to get by and made me learn that I was perfectly capable of getting by with not a lot of cash. It also caused me to opt out of doing something with friends in order to save up the money that I was earning. Hopefully, I can stay in this mindset as I enter the school year.

Having a job created a more structured schedule than I’ve ever had, even with the dance classes I used to have to go to at a certain time in my summers. Because I had to be up and at work at a certain time, I planned out the appropriate time to wake up, get ready and go. Same with in the evenings when I would get off work, then I would be able to plan out my evenings with people better. This summer I wanted to workout most mornings which I ended up doing. Every single week I worked out in the mornings at least 5/7 days a week, sometimes more. This related to me having to wake up for work so might as well wake up a bit earlier to get a workout in. I am so proud of myself for sticking to it. I made sure that my workout clothes were my first pair of clothes I put on in the morning, that I was fueled up on a pre-workout coffee or protein bar to get me through the workout, and that the actual workout was reasonable and doable for my personal body fitness. In the past summers, not having something to get up for in the morning made me super lazy with sleeping until whenever and then having hours to kill before dance class. I used to think that I might as well just take my time waking up and getting ready so much so that by the time I was up and out of bed I had talked myself out of doing a workout. Again, this workout plan is something I hope I can stick with as I enter the school year because I have never felt so good and accomplished.

On the subject of this summer’s physical health, I have been making an effort to improve in all areas of my health. I have worked on my spiritual health and had conversations with friends, family, and myself especially about what my spirituality means to me and how I want my relationship with God to grow especially as I head back to campus in the fall. I have worked on my mental and emotional health taking times and days to be with myself. I have put in the effort this summer to read more books instead of watching Netflix or TV in my free moments. Through and because of the books I’ve read, I’ve attempted to find a sense of peace. Often I have found this peace within nature, spending as much time as I could outside (which was hard at times considering I live in the midwest and in the summers it gets into the 100s making it hard to spend too much time outside). I have driven myself to focus on the present me and being happy with who that is rather than dwelling too much on the future and fantasizing about what I could be. However, I’ve balanced this out with simple thinking of the future, as I think that it is still important, setting goals or having conversations with people that might be able to bring about some opportunities in the future. This has brought me further excitement and peace for my future. I am so excited to return to LMU and begin my sophomore year. Sophomore year brings about more opportunity as I am no longer a newbie on campus. I will be living in an apartment with 3 other girls so I’m excited to have a more homey place in comparison to a dorm and to be sharing it with 3 amazing girls. I’m excited for what is to come with my roomies!! I am looking forward to growing my position within my campus and furthering my education in hopes of figuring out what it is exactly I want to do with my life while all the while remembering that I am still young and I have a whole life ahead of me to figure out who I am going to be.

All in all, this summer was amazing! As I mentioned, it’s one for the books. Lots of personal growth and long lasting memories. Here’s to what’s next!!!