Well, it’s been quite a while since I have shared a little bit about my life here in Washington, DC. To say the least, it has been a bit of a journey since I last wrote a DC Diaries blog post. However, through it all, it has been a rollercoaster but I have realized that I am coming out of these past few months ready to take on the world now more than ever before. At the same time, I am starting to move on from my college years and even embrace the new world that I am living in.
Once I graduated from college, I almost felt like I was still in college. I still had my friends, despite living up in Washington, DC. Though I did have my friends and professors’ support from afar, my life was changing and so were my fellow Class of 2021 friends’s lives. Many of us started jobs or graduate school programs or were deciding just what to do next. Whatever the case may be, we will always be one another’s classmates, but we wouldn’t be seeing one another on a regular basis like we would in our college years. Consequentially, I also didn’t start my job until 2.5 months after my college graduation – something that I am extremely grateful that my company suggested I do. So, it was a weird feeling going from the college world to the working world. I missed seeing others my own age regularly, especially as I was working from home. Needless to say, it was quite strange going through all of the motions of being in a setting with all of my classmates who all happened to mostly be my own age to being around people of all ages.
To be honest, the transition from college life to the postgraduate world SUCKS and it really SUCKS. I have always been one who likes to tell the truth and not hear things in a sugarcoated fashion, most specifically when it could hurt me in the long run to hear it in that manner. When you aren’t around those your own age constantly, it can be hard and I have felt it on and on and on again. Personally, I started to go through my college years and try to relive things that I missed about them, whether it be friendships or relationships that never seemed to blossom. But, after careful reflection, I realized that the more reliving I attempted to do, the more I was trying to fill a void within my own heart of missing the college years that I had just left. It’s a weird time and it is quite difficult for anybody to process – even my coworkers who are older than me have said that.
Although I do miss my college years, I am glad that I am not in college anymore. My college years are over and they are over for the better. I had four extraordinary years of college, and I am eternally grateful for them. While in college, I was ready for a change. I knew that while I did love Raleigh, I did not love it enough that I wanted to make it my home after college.
As for my life in Washington, DC, I am *finally* starting to figure out what I want to do next. There are some exciting ways for me to get involved that I have yet to share, but will in time’s due. I am also looking at starting something exciting and doing some event planning within the scope of my company. The opportunities for me outside of work are rolling in and I couldn’t be more excited!
When times get tough, I am a firm believer that better times are always to come. Remember that, my friends and fellow readers.
XOXO – Katie <3