Personally, it feels crazy to me that I am entering beyond my early 20’s and am not an extremely recent college graduate anymore. Time has truly flown!! 22-25 felt like a wild ride of figuring out what to do with my life both professionally and personally all while navigating adulthood for the very first time. As it’s been a few years in the world of adulting, I feel I finally have a grip on life in my 20’s and navigating the world and changes that come with it in all aspects of life. 26 feels like I’m entering into some new territory age-wise and I am excited to see what’s to come within this new chapter of life.

I graduated college (see my Senior photos here) in May 2021 in a sea of masks and social distancing. I left college and relocated back to the Washington, DC area feeling fortunate to have a full time offer that I was starting a few months after graduation. Grateful to have a Summer break before entering into the workforce to set up my apartment and settle into my new home and life, I also at the same time had no idea what I was doing. As someone who is super Type A and thrives off of the structure and knowing what was going to happen, I went … NUTS going into adulthood. At the same time that I was navigating purchasing my very own 401k and insurance through my company and car (here), little did I know that I would be navigating the changing friendship dynamics with long distance college friendships – some of which have strengthened and others of which have drifted away and even felt shut out from (here). I went from a world of structure and predictability to one of a lot of new experiences to navigate and confusion about where I was going.

In college, our end goal is to make it to graduation with a degree in-hand and hopefully a job offer, graduate school plans, etc. in tow. In the working world, our end goal is continuously changing and evolving. Anddddd, as someone who is always working towards an end goal and experienced so much stress and confusion over having no end goal in mind, I felt extremely uneasy going into the workforce and to know simply where I was going. However, I am very fortunate to have gotten a job at an incredible and supportive organization that I am still with today that has helped me navigate my career over the last few years. And, while my career goals have changed while at my employer, I finally feel that I have an end goal that I am excited to pursue over the next chapter of my life and career. This end goal of mine will taken quite a few years of accreditation, work experience, and education, however, I am looking forward to what is in store for me in 26 and beyond. In my first months within the workforce, one of the best pieces of advice I got from somebody that I really admire professionally was to simply “trust the process.” While a daunting and much easier said than done piece of advice, I have come to truly embrace and implement this piece of advice into my daily live, both professionally and personally.

Since moving back to the Washington, DC area, I have been lucky enough to rent out and room within my Papa’s basement and be close to him and our dog Rosie. We have gone on several adventures both near and far together whether it be to Maine, Canada, and Shenandoah National Park as well as North Carolina. I have also LOVED getting to make family memories close to home with my Papa and Rosie alongside our extended family. Over the years, I have had several close friends that I’m SOOOO lucky to have in my life come and visit me and get to know Papa and Rosie, too. Truly, living with Papa and Rosie has been a major blessing for me and is something I don’t plan to move out of anytime soon.

In terms of 25, I felt as if I personally entered into a quarter life crisis as the year began and left the year having essentially survived it. 25 was a year that I began to feel the weight of adulthood on me in soooo many ways. While I won’t really get into too many details here, I felt a lot of chaos and stress and uncertainty throughout the past year on the inside. While on the outside, I enjoyed sooooo many lovely moments in terms of experiences and travel. During 25, I visited Hawaii, Canada, Spain and Portugal, and New York City. I also celebrated 5 years as a blogger (here) and announced the group trip of my dreams (!!!!) to Italy next year in April 2026 (reserve your spot here). I also *finally* got to see Taylor Swift perform via The Eras Tour on her final tour leg in Canada. And, I discovered a passion of mine for community building here on this platform and photography. Although a pretty chaotic year, 25 definitely was one of the years that taught me the most moving forward into 26 and beyond.

As for now starting off 26, I honestly feel a lot more at peace and a greater sense of clarity about both where I am going physically and mentally. I feel grateful to have an extremely great support system, consisting of family and friends alongside LOTS of therapy. A support system goes a LOOOONGGG way. During 25, I have also returned to church (here) and have been leaning on my faith more so these days. Going back to the piece of advice that I’ve received when I first started working, I have also truly leaned into the idea that I must “trust the process.” If we don’t “trust the process,” we can’t move forward with peace and clarity. This snippet of advice has been one of the most groundbreaking things that has helped me to move forward aka my word of 2025 (here) from 25 into 26.

Having *finally* putting my trust into the process during 25, I feel grateful and more clear-headed going into 26. I have been through quite a journey since graduating college at 22 in 2021 and am grateful to be opening a new page in my own life’s book. Nevertheless, I am also excited to share Chapter 26 with YOU. Thank YOU for being here. Here’s to Chapter 26!!

XOXO – Katie <3