Saying Goodbye to Summer and Hello to New Adventures in my 20s

The end of summer has come a bit unexpected. The days feel longer, but the weeks seem to just pass by as I wonder what it was like back in March when everything felt so uncertain and summer plans were put on hold. It goes to show just how fast your life breezes by when you're planning your days out long enough until you can finely just breathe. 

This summer for me has been quite the eventful one. With my advertising internship at FCB Chicago coming to a close, I was positive that going into my senior year (virtually) will reveal the same opportunities—maybe even better ones. All we can do is hope for the best, but sometimes you have to absorb the current moment for it to reveal its beauty. I spent a lot of my time at the beginning of this year waiting and waiting for things to become known and set for my future. I dwelled on it so much that it consumed me and what I truly wanted to be doing. Whether it be spending much needed time with family or taking a pause, this summer has been quite the road to recovery from what had been a very frightful spring. 

I turned 21 this past weekend and I could not feel more fit to be my age. Maybe it's me figuring out what to do with my hair, or this newfound sense of ambition I have finishing college, or the endless amount of possibilities for what my life could be like one year from now, five, or even ten. I couldn't be more excited to begin what will be the best time of my life. Who doesn't love their 20s anyway? 

Since being 20, I've gotten tattoos, ridden a motorcycle, travelled abroad, and have done many radical things you'd do in your 20s, but I've also done a lot of adult things already like updating my license! I'm in no rush whatsoever to keep on aging, though. I am certain in the fact that I am capable of great things that I set my mind to. It often becomes my greatest weakness when I want to accomplish so many great things, that I become burnt out and overwhelmed by it all. However, I've found joy and reassurance in spontaneity and not always having a plan figured out. 

Going into my senior year of high school and college both have had their own parallels. One being, I have no idea what the future holds. Unlike high school, where my decisions were based solely on the college I was planning to go to, I have the freedom to choose where I go and what I do on my own terms. A degree is one step, but who knows if I'll travel off the beaten path. My head is high up in the clouds, but one things is for sure—I'll always find my way back home.

[All pictures taken by my lovely cousin, Lindsay Livingston, on the Oregon Trail in Baker City, Oregon].