I woke up this morning in the best mood. I love those kinds of days; the ones where you just feel so happy and grateful without any specific reason. When the clouds all go away and the sunshine comes through for a little while and you can feel the glow on your face.

I feel like sometimes I get so caught up in life that I forget to give myself credit for where I am right now and how long its taken me to get here. And I mean this in so many different aspects of my life.

For a second this morning while I was walking to do the morning Flashcast for TV2, I thought to myself, 7-year-old me would be so proud of the woman I have become.

And then I thought to myself, hell, 19-year-old me is so proud of myself. I mean, here I am in college, working toward my dream of being a journalist, and doing what I love everyday. I am a reporter for the 6pm. news, was voted best Flashcast co-anchor, and regardless of hating having to get out of bed at 7am on Tuesday mornings, I really do love what I do.

I walked out of this semester’s last Tuesday Flashcast this morning with a full heart, because I really am so happy to be apart of something so great.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with stressful things in our life and get to the point where we think that the bad to outweighs the good. But walking out of my Spanish class this afternoon after acing a test I didn’t study for and the sunshine coming out from the rain clouds, I realized that the bad never really outweighs the good as long as we’re willing to look for it.

Then I got to thinking about all the things that led me exactly where I am right now, and how we should remember to recognize even how important the little moments were.

I realized that with the bad moments, the best closure is understanding and validating the importance they had in your life. Once you realize the greater purpose those moments had in creating the person you are now, you can let go of them and move forward with your life.

There were pieces of my past self that I continued to mourn over for a long time because I wanted those parts of myself to still be part of who I am now, but I have come to realize that those parts of myself were never meant to make it this far.

This journey was about growth, and in order to grow into something new, we must first out grow the old. And that isn’t to say that I shouldn’t miss those pieces of who I was, because I still do. It is perfectly okay to visit the past, as long as we remember that we cannot live there.

So yes, I am proud of the person that I am today. And even with my faults, I am proud of the person that I was and the person I am still becoming, even with her faults.

I woke up this morning and remembered how good life is when I’m willing to look. I encourage you to always be willing to look, because the sunshine is a beautiful place to live.

xo,

hay

Is it just me, or (for some unknown reason), did anyone else think that once you started college, life would slow down for a little while?

I mean, my entire life I have waited to be exactly where I am right now. Living on my own, free to do whatever my heart desired. I could go out as late as I wanted, come home when I wanted, eat what I wanted and, against my better judgement, skip class whenever I wanted.

But now that I’m here, time is flying by like I have never experienced in my life, and nothing is happening the way I once thought it might.

I don’t know why, but I am disappointed that time hasn’t stopped to leave us in this place for a while longer. And I know, I know it doesn’t work that way. The age old saying that time stops for no one was actually legit and, as corny as the term YOLO was, there was nothing but truth in it.

So here I am with a little less than three weeks left in my freshman year of college. Five finals but not a clue when they are, barely passing my stats class, haven’t used my planner in at least two months and struggling to wake up for my 11 am.

If you asked me how I got here, I don’t know that I would be able to give you all the details. But I know that the ones I could give you wouldn’t be boring. Although there were definitely moments that made me feel overwhelmed and completely stressed out, (I mean, it is college) this past year has given me some of the best experiences I have ever had.

So as excited as I am to move into my apartment and start my sophomore year, a part of me is really going to miss my tiny bed in Allyn 245 and the memories my dorm room has shared with me.

But I know that some of the best days of my life still lie somewhere ahead, and I hope that here, you can share those new memories with me.

xo,

hay