This is about the time of year that you can’t read a blog post or a listicle without referencing the New Year, or a list of resolutions. Well, sorry, but this isn’t going to be any different. In my 23 years, there has not been a more hectic, anxiety-ridden, panic-inducing year than 2014. And I want to reflect on it. All of those Thought Catalog and Buzzfeed articles about a quarter life crisis have summed up my past year and I’m finally settling in.
10286854_10203208234320518_7639605714958075380_o

I spent five years in college, starting off at Schoolcraft Community College, then transferring to Eastern Michigan University and commuting from home. While school was important, it wasn’t the main part of my life, as it seems to be for most people who live at or around school. I guess I’m a proud Eagle alum or whatever, but really, I didn’t care where I got my degree from as long as I got out of there in a timely fashion. I couldn’t wait to graduate. School, to me, was just a necessary barrier to get through before really I started my life. At least that’s what I thought before March rolled around the the end of my last semester was right around the corner and I started panicking about what I was actually going to do after I graduated.

I wanted to find a job utilizing my degree before I graduated, obviously, but that wasn’t looking good. What’s the likelihood of that these days, anyway?I wasn’t getting any hits on my resume. Nobody was emailing me back, and the only jobs I was hearing about from CareerBuilder and Monster were insurance jobs. Nobody wants an insurance job. That’s why they browse career websites for poor recent grads with no other prospects. Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but you get my point.

10552374_10204105063100677_7290027795820036456_nApril came around, I graduated, and gave myself a new deadline. Find a job in my field before my loans kick in. It would take a long time to make a dent in $30,000 making $11 an hour. Not to mention, as much as I thought it was a good idea living with my parents to save money, I was ready to move out.

Fast forward eight months and I’m living in a new city, part of a fellowship, working a job, not necessarily in journalism, but it makes me feel like my $30,000 debt wasn’t totally in vain. 2014 has been a whirlwind of change, and I’m looking forward to what 2015 will bring.