Alright guys shit’s getting real. A little over two weeks ago I walked across a crowded stage at Van Andel arena to receive my “diploma” (More like diploma holder, real one comes in the mail) and I think the realization that college is truly over has finally settled in. Technically I have one semester to finish (currently in my last three classes) and I have six weeks to prepare for my move to New York. Thankfully I have an amazing advisor that is allowing me to prepare for class credit and while doing all this research there are so many things that I want to reflect on. 

So here goes… Six weeks. Six posts. Hopefully by the end of it I’ll be able to prove to my mom that I won’t end up living in a card box this summer. 

Initially planning was going well. The google drive folder dedicated to documents I created to make the transition as easy as possible quickly filled with lists of neighborhoods to check out, polished resumes, companies to start looking applying at and pretty much anything you’d assume a responsible person would want to work out before moving to a different state. As every person who has had a ton of things to do realizes sooner or later, planning and executing a task are two very different things especially when looking for a room on Craigslist. 

After posting a concise yet friendly message reaching out to those few souls that have an available room, I started to utilize my neighborhood list and start seeing what was out there. The results? Very underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong I came into this process knowing that the simple concept of finding a room to rent would be nearly impossible without diligent searching, patience and some element of luck thrown in but that moment of scrolling through scam emails and image-less ads left me questioning myself.

Am I going to be able to this? Seriously, packing my two bags and hopping on a bus is the easy part but will I be able to sustain myself? I know that life finds ways to filter out the weak and unmotivated but I wasn’t going to be picked off before I even started trying. I decided to call it a day on the room search and didn’t think about it again until the next day when I went to my 6-9 (6-9s are horrible I know) and New York was brought back up two times. 

The first time was my very enthusiastic professor reminiscing on her days living and working in New York. I love hearing people get nostalgic about their past and when she compared her current life in the suburbs and her former bustling city life I could see a person that came full circle, living the life she wanted to live. The second time was during a group activity when a student was talking about a girl he knew packing up her bags, getting in her car and moving to California. No job lined up, no place to live and she figured it out. While he admired her bravery he couldn’t imagine a life like that. 

He had “the next 20 years planned out already.” Let me repeat that THE NEXT 20 YEARS PLANNED OUT ALREADY! How, Sway?! I remember a couple years back I was the same way. My life was completely mapped out. Graduate in four years with my shiny CIS degree, obtain a well paying job, pay my loans off and coast into boredom but it didn’t take me long to realize that most plans (especially life plans) won’t work the way you imagine them to. I admire a person that knows exactly what they want to do in life and works toward their goals but what happens when that doesn’t work out? 

Adapting is how you get through life. After my “perfect” plan crumbled, I had to evaluate what I wanted from life and what I had to offer. Making a ton of money and stability sounds amazing (especially with these loan payments coming up) but I always want to enjoy or at least be interested in whatever I’m doing. That girl packing up her car and moving to California seems crazy to some but I love that she believed in herself enough to make a move that big. The more I tell people about my current plans, the more I realize that now is the time to make changes if necessary, try new things and live. Live now or die trying not regret all of your missed opportunities in a nursing home, I think  that was the idea of that 50 cent album…