High Hopes for Junior Year.

In a matter of five weeks, I will be starting my junior year of college. WOW. How has the time gone by? I don't like to toot my own horn, but I am very excited (and nervous) for this year—but mainly excited. I had no idea where I was going to be my junior year of high school, let alone college. 

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I have to say, these have been the most amazingly challenging and discovering years for me. Having this blog along the way has helped me through it to say the least. And I hope you, too! College has been a fun ride and I'm really not ready for it to end. Of all the experiences I have had, friends that I've made, opportunities given and found, DePaul has without a doubt been one of the best decisions I've made in my life and I wouldn't change it for the world. 

Here is what I will be looking forward to this year...

01. A better sense of belonging. Freshman year was hard to get my footing, especially when everything is new and unknown. I struggled to find a "group" or club and this year I have two that I love, Her Campus DePaul and DePaul PRSSA. Both career-driven organizations, but also just amazing groups of people. 

My junior year will be filled with new responsibilities, new chances to get involved, and more people to meet and connect with. 

02. Being the co-president of Her Campus DePaul. This group means so much to me. Her Campus Media is a student-run online magazine where students can completely express themselves. It's my baby. This past year I was an editor, social media director, and copywriter for it—my passions grew so much so that I was nominated for the lead position and I am so excited to start this journey and see this group of powerful ladies grow! It's groups like these that stay with us forever. 

03. Being on the board of DePaul PRSSA! I joined this (public relations student society of America) group in hopes of finding a professional focused organization and I found my place on the executive board this past year as the VP of Membership. This year I will be running the involvement fair in September and already got assigned the custom bottle opener keychains—hit up our booth yall!

Being in this group has not only allowed me to explore career options, but also get hands-on experience in the public relations field by going to agency visits, hosting workshops, writing for their exPRess blog, and also being able to network with some of the top PR professionals. I am looking forward to our district conference this year and to take part in the production of it all. 

That smize though :D

What are you looking forward to this year?

04. My new roommate! I am so excited to be living with one of my good friends, Taylor this year. We'll be living on campus in an apartment together and have already started planning how everything is going to look. It'll be really nice to have a shared space with someone I know since the past two years I've lived with random roommates. I will probably do an apartment tour as I did last year, I got very lucky with last year's apartment, as it was much bigger, but I think you all will still be curious to see how we decorate it. 

05. Internships and internships galore. I already have an internship that I am beginning to love. It's with a boutique PR agency in Chicago called Papergirl PR and Marketing. Already I've learned so much, and it doesn't stop there! I want to have multiple skillsets so I will be on the lookout for paid internships this year like crazy. Might stress me out, but who knows what will come my way.

06. Seeing my writing evolve this year. I hope that with this writing tutor job I will be taking on that I will learn a few more things about writing and also other people's writing. I get so used to seeing and reading my own, Her Campus has helped with that, but tutoring will be beyond another level. I start training for it at the end of the summer and am curious to see how big of a job it will be. 

As amazing as it all is, I have many worries to be quite honest. One of them is if I can manage to balance it all this year. 

My roommate says she'll try to keep me sane, but I think it will take a lot of horsepower and caffeine to do it all without burning out. I believe in myself and am definitely not alone. It can just be very overwhelming when all duties need to be done. This year will be a lot that's for sure, but I'm up for it because this is what I love doing. 

It can be hard to find your spot in college, but within a matter of time, you will have fifty things on your plate and wonder how it all got there. I think this year will be the best yet. What are you looking forward to the most?