It’s been a long week, but it’s also been one filled with people I love. Today, I get to be home and spend some time with my parents—of course, along comes the age old question, where do I want to be in 5 years…

I did realize something though.

I’ve told you about all the students I’m connected to on campus, from my WOWies and Orientation Leaders to my adings. This week, those two adings taught me something I hadn’t noticed until today.

Seeing them this week, we talked about a few things going on in our lives, and it turns out that it all kind of goes in a circle. Something going on in their social lives right now is something I’ve dealt with a lot, especially in my sophomore year of college which is where they are right now.

And watching them figure out how to handle it all, I realized that I’ve grown. A lot.

Just because every one of us does new things and deals with different situations every single day, it’s funny that we don’t actually get a lot of space to recognize the growth that comes with it all. Think about it. When you do well at work, maybe you get a promotion and maybe, you just don’t get fired. Which is great, don’t get me wrong. But also, what about the rest of it? You know, the reminders that we’re doing great, that we’re growing in a good direction, that we’re not on the completely wrong path.

We don’t get a lot of those. Not unless we stop to notice them. So maybe I don’t know where I’ll be in 5 years, there’s no way I’ll know. Things are far too unpredictable for that. But at least I know I’m doing things right as I get there.

Like this, this is another thing I can say I think I’m doing right: Remember when I said I started taking the bus?

Sophomore year, I missed the bus and was late for class and did quite a bit of running after busses with my backpack adding to the spectacle, in the process of trying to catch sed bus without spilling everything everywhere—dignity included. Thinking back, it was just kind of embarrassing. If you look at me now though, I’m handling it. I get to campus earlier than I need to, I make it in time for work and for classes, and I even get there on days I don’t need to be just because I shouldn’t stay cooped up in my house too much. You see, we’re doing great.

And there’s this one part of the ride that actually is kind of great.

I carpooled with my roommates on Friday and it turns out, one of them knew exactly what I was talking about. San Luis Obispo is a beautiful place, one I forget how lucky I am to enjoy sometimes. It’s warm when it shouldn’t be, the wildflowers in the spring are lovely, and winter somehow always seems to bring green hills that are hard not to enjoy.

Those green hills? The bus route that runs by our house passes right alongside them. Imagine, we get to the end of the street our house is on and turn right at the far end at a stop light, and that’s when you see it: the hills. When we start down that street, there’s a barn on the right and a long field to the left. All the cows and their fluffiness are enjoying the gorgeous grub, horses are out there doing their thing, and somehow the sun hits it all just right. Then, you keep going for a little and both sides open up to the kind of green mountains you’ll see only in movies or the screensavers of Costco televisions.

It’s beautiful.

Sure, I’m not always excited to go to classes that might feel like a waste of time, but when it’s early in the morning and I’m somehow exhausted after getting 8 hours of sleep, I can still see something that feels a little like golden hour.

Talk about looking on the brightside.

I’ve been working on a lot of different things lately, from screenwriting and prose writing (which are incredibly different, something I did not prep myself for) to tutoring and redecorating my walls (multiple times).

But I have also been forgetting to notice the things that have come full circle. Like a bus route view or adings that I am lucky to be closer with as time goes by. Because, here’s the thing.

Everything is complicated and none of it really feels so straightforward anymore. I graduate in a few months, relationships are tricky, and a lot of my future is hanging in the balance of… Of what? I don’t even know at this point.

So we’re appreciating the little things, the fact that I’m growing and the pieces that come with it. A lot has happened in these past few weeks and we’re figuring out little by little just what that means for everything else.

With the new look of my site (I hope you like it) and a world of opportunity in whatever comes next, I think you’re stuck with me on this journey but hopefully, it’ll be a good one.

Short and sweet today, I’ll see you next week. 

And happy Black History Month. You’ve got some good things coming.