Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end....

7 months.

That is how long it has been since I graduated college. So much has happened in those seven months, its hard to know where to begin. Everyone imagines what life will be like after graduating and I can honestly say that these have been some of the hardest and most challenging months of my life. Nothing like what I imagined but amazing all the same.

In that time:
- I graduated,
- I was a bridesmaid for the first time in a friend's wedding (I have married friends now!!)
- I moved back home (equally scary)
- I took on two jobs (working over 50 hours a week at one point)
- I went to my first college homecoming as an actual alum, never imagining it would feel so weird to be back at a place I called home for four years of my life
- I took the third part of the Foreign Service Exam (an all day oral simulation)
- I turned 23, making me feel so old.
- I had to work harder than ever to keep up my relationships with friends, visiting apartments and homes in DC, NYC, Williamsburg, etc. and trying to keep in touch with friends abroad (like silly Ryan who had to leave for China)
- I watched my sister graduate high school and leave for her first year of college
- I had dinner at the Operation Smile founder's own home
- I tried to figure out what I want to do with my life
- and I had numerous adventures with friends and family moving into apartments, exploring the city, and adjusting to being real adults.

Life is certainly nothing like what I imagined. But i have learned so much in these last seven months. I learned that I am ready to be on my own. I learned that no one else knows what is best for me, my career, and my life except me. I learned that a piece of my heart will always pull me abroad, no matter how hard I try to talk it out of it. I learned that i have to trust in my belief in God, my passion for helping people, and my love of adventure to lead me in the direction of my dreams, despite any feelings that I don't have what it takes. I also learned that I can't do everything all at once. All you can do is the best you can do. And that is exactly what I am going to do. Follow my dreams, and not look back.