Dealing With a Quarter-Life Crisis

Over the past six months, I have noticed a major change in my personality and levels of happiness, which can only be described as a "Quarter-Life Crisis."

Starting in the Spring of my senior year of college, the realisation that I would soon be graduating slowly started to sink in, and I knew my life as I knew it would change drastically. For starters, I had grown so used to being independent over the past four years at university, so it was definitely an adjustment to move back home with my family. My parents are definitely what most people my age would describe as "cool parents", but no matter how cool your parents are, there definitely comes a time when you feel the need to be independent and live on your own. (Or, more realistically for recent college grads, with about two or three roommates.) Secondly, I have kind of lost touch with most of my friends from home, because we have all changed a little bit over the past few years. I was really lucky to meet some great friends from all over the country and world through my years at Elon and my semester studying abroad in France. But, while it's amazing having such a geographically diverse group of friends, it's hard too. I still talk to a lot of my friends regularly through texting, Facebook, and Skype, but I haven't been able to just meet up with a friend to go to a movie or shopping. It's sad thinking that I'm in my twenties—this is supposed to be the most exciting and social time of my life! But, living at home in a small town, far away from all my friends, is far from the glamour associated with being a twentysomething.

And of course, there is the biggest factor: the fact that I am still unemployed. Not only am I unemployed, but I am also completely confused as to what it is that I want to do with my life. It's tough because I want to find a job that I will enjoy, but at the same time, who knows when this dream job could come along, and I'll need to have an income soon. There are some companies that I've applied to and am really excited about, but I know the positions in these companies are so competitive, and I'm up against hundreds of thousands of other young people from all over the country. In the meantime until I find a job, I have been working at the local ice cream shop where I worked when I was in high school. The owner of the shop is so nice, but I have to say, returning to work there has been pretty depressing. I was so sure I would have a job after graduating and wouldn't need to work there again. But unfortunately, the job search process is harder than I expected it to be.

When I was talking to my mom recently, she suggested that maybe the reason I've been feeling depressed over the past several months might have to do with the fact that this is the first time in my life that I don't know what my next step in life is and that things aren't going exactly the way I had thought they would in my mind. And after thinking about that, I think I agree that has been a huge factor in my post-grad depression. When I was a kid, I knew I had school up until I was 18, then I was accepted into my first-choice college, then I landed great internships two summers in a row, and lastly, I was accepted into the on-campus position that I applied for at university. Since everything else had worked out for me in the past, I was so sure that the job process would go just as smoothly (which, of course, it hasn't).

It's now been almost three months since I graduated. I am trying to stay as positive as I can and am continuing to look into different job opportunities. I have also decided that, in case I am still struggling to find a job a few months from now, I am going to start looking into different graduate programs or teaching abroad. I already know of a few great programs that I think would be great experiences and make me really happy! And until I can figure out that next step, I am going to try and stay as positive as I can and channel more of my energy into things that I enjoy: blogging, making YouTube videos, spending time with my family, reading, and keeping in touch with my friends from Elon and abroad.

Thanks for reading, and I will keep you informed of when I decide what that next step in my life is going to be!

Some exciting things from the past month...

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in forever! I have been extremely busy with the end of the semester and graduation approaching. It's been a never-ending stream of tests, papers, presentations, applying for jobs... so much stuff! But the hardest of it is done now! I just have one more presentation and one exam, and then I'm done with school work forever! (Well at least until I eventually go for my Master's degree :) ) In exactly 10 days, I will be done with my undergraduate degree which seems so crazy to me and is a little nerve-wracking, but I'm also so excited for post-grad life. So much fun stuff has happened since my last post, so I thought I would fill you in a little on everything that's been happening.

The first thing that happened since my last post was that my friend Antonio, who I studied abroad with and who is from Mexico, came to visit Elon, which is where I go to school! It was so cool to see him because he was the first person from abroad that I've seen since returning to the US a year and a half ago (other than the girls I go to school with and my friend Anna who lives in North Carolina). Even though it had been so long since I had seen Antonio, it felt as if no time had passed at all! Seeing Antonio got me so excited to reconnect with more of my friends from my semester abroad. The next person I'll be seeing is my friend Ciela who is visiting me in Boston next month! She is Dutch and lives in London now, and has never been to the US, so it will be an exciting visit!

Then not too long after seeing Antonio, my sister Lexi and I bought tickets to see Fall Out Boy and Paramore in concert in June! We have been huge fans of both bands for years now and have already seen Fall Out Boy in concert twice. They are amazing live, so I know they'll put on a great show. And neither of us has ever seen Paramore live, so seeing them will be great too!

Next was an annual tradition that the students at my school have: Festivus. Festivus is basically a huge mud party that is probably the most fun day of the school year. I've heard from people who have never experienced it that it doesn't seem fun, but I promise you it is! This year was even bigger than ones in past years because it was the 10-year anniversary of the event, and it did not disappoint! Festivus is one thing I'll definitely miss after I graduate.
                     

so muddy!!

so you can get an idea of what Festivus looks like, this is a pic I took at my freshman year Festivus!

Then recently, I booked a flight to London in October!! My sister is going abroad to Bath, England in the fall, and my parents and I had planned to visit her there. Our plan is to fly into London, go to Bath, then London, then Paris, and a day in Lyon. Then my parents will stay a little bit longer in Paris and head to Dublin, and I'll be heading back to London for about another week! When I go back to London, I'll get to see Ciela again as well as my good friends Ben and Josh who I also studied abroad with! London is probably my favourite city in the world, and I am psyched to be back in Lyon, so I am already starting to count down the days to this trip! I don't have my flight back booked yet, and part of me wants to just stay in London for six months until it reaches the point that I would need a visa to be there haha. I know that wouldn't be possible since I will hopefully have a job in Boston at that point, and will definitely not have enough money saved to be living in London quite yet. Hopefully in a few years though!

This past weekend, my business fraternity had its annual end-of-the-year banquet where we have dinner, dance, and the president gives out awards and superlatives to the graduating seniors. My superlative was "Most Likely to be Carded", which was pretty fitting since I feel like I definitely look younger than 22! After banquet, everyone went to someone's apartment to hang out longer. I ended up playing some beer pong and slap cup, and had such a fun night. It was a really good way to bond with the other people in the fraternity one last time before I graduate.

Pre-banquet selfie :)

Sad selfie after I spilled some pasta sauce on my dress haha. It washed out ok though! :)

me with some of my family in the business fraternity! We're called the "Sexy Fam" haha

And most recently, I had my last day of classes as an undergrad student yesterday! It's such a weird feeling to be done with classes, but I definitely feel kind of relieved and like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders since I have been so stressed with school work recently.

my first day of class ever compared to my last day of class!

Next exciting thing that is coming up: graduation! I promise I will be posting much more frequently now that I am almost done with my school work and will be heading home for summer soon. When I get home in a couple weeks, I will also be purchasing a new camera and starting my own YouTube channel! I have actually had lots of ideas for blog posts over the past month, but then decided that they would be better in video form, so I have a huge list of ideas in my phone now and am planning to film lots of videos this summer.

Thanks for reading and I will talk to you again soon!    xxChristie

Senioritis

I think every student, no matter how much they love their school, reaches a point when they just feel ready to graduate and start the next chapter of their life. For me, that point was reached toward the beginning of this semester. I am only in two classes, but have still managed to receive huge amounts of homework on top of working a lot of hours in my campus job, and I keep finding myself looking to the light at the end of the tunnel. I've started to apply to jobs and am actually meeting with people from my first-choice company when I'm home for Spring Break in a little over a week!

I have lots of stuff happening after graduation that I keep looking forward to. I am so excited by the thought of starting a job (fingers crossed that I get hired for one of the positions I'm looking into!!) I am also planning a reunion cruise with some of my friends from my semester abroad. We're planning to spend a couple of days in Miami and then cruise to the Bahamas, and I'm so excited because I haven't seen them in far too long! Then in the Fall, my sister was accepted to study abroad in Bath, England and myself and my parents are going to visit her! We are going to plan it out when I'm home in a week, but the plan is to start in Dublin, then go to Bath, then London, Paris, and a day in Lyon where I studied abroad! Then my parents will fly home and I will go back to London to stay with my friend Ciela for a week and see some more of my friends who live in England :)
Something else exciting is I am planning to start my own YouTube channel this summer! I have been watching YouTube since 2006, and have always wanted to start a channel, but never had the confidence to do it I guess. This year, I've starting watching a bunch of new YouTubers, and I've really been inspired to finally make my own videos! It's a little nerve-wracking thinking that I'll be putting myself out there for anyone in the world to see, but I know I will have a lot of fun doing it, and will regret it if I don't. I think my videos will be similar to what I post in this blog: videos about fashion, beauty, travel, and some everyday vlogs!

But even though I have a lot to look forward to after graduation, I am going to try and live in the moment to really enjoy my last two months of university. And I do have some exciting things to look forward to over the next couple of months. First, my friend Lauren who I lived with last Spring and who transferred to the University of Wisconsin this year is coming to visit this weekend! I'm so excited because I was really close with her and haven't seen her in about 10 months! Then next weekend, I head home for Spring Break, and even though it will be freezing in Boston and probably have several feet of snow on the ground, I'm so excited to see my family and dog and have a little break from schoolwork! When I get back to school, hopefully the Spring weather will have started to set in by then! (For anyone who isn't familiar with North Carolina weather, it is probably the most bipolar thing ever in the Winter. In Boston, once it gets cold, it stays cold until about April. But in North Carolina, it can change drastically within just a few hours. Last weekend, we had an ice storm on Friday causing the whole area to lose power and shut down, then on Saturday it was beautiful and I was walking around with a short sleeve shirt.) My school also has an amazing Spring tradition called Festivus! It is basically a huge party where everyone plays in a big mud pit for hours. It is so much fun! Then of course, graduation will be just around the corner :) I'm lucky to have a lot of my family coming: my parents, sister, three aunts, an uncle, and my grandparents.

I tend to be a bit of a dreamer and enjoy daydreaming about the future, but for the next couple of months, I am going to try and focus on enjoying the present, and really have the best Spring semester ever as the end to my college career :)