Life is picking up speed. And sometimes I wonder why it didn't ask nicely before doing so.
Regardless, here I am, finishing my first semester of the nursing program, playing my 9th season of field hockey, figuring out how to do life and keep myself well fed at the same time.
And I love it.
Not in a fluffy, sunshiney, skipping-through-daisies kind of way, but in a hard, I-cry-sometimes, we-can-do-this-together sort of way. What I'm doing is not always easy, but it is always worthwhile.
Perhaps the best way to convey the feeling of this year so far is by pointing out that this post is one in a series, where I post each fall about my goals for the college year that lies ahead.
I post in the fall. It's December.
I am constantly busy. With homework, studying, field hockey, learning skills for clinical, getting up at the crack of dawn for said clinicals, staying involved with campus organizations, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life.
But on my mind nonetheless, my goals for this year:
1) learn to swim (actual strokes)
2) be certified as a medical interpreter
3) make time for conversation
4) cook more dumpster food
I've decided I want to do a triathalon after college, which requires better swimming than my froggy-stroke. I guess this goal is part of the mental transition to life after EMU.
The second goal is once again thinking ahead, while looking back. I've realized that my Spanish skills have been grossly underutilized as of late, especially for living in a city with a large immigrant population. So I'm going to get certified to use them.
The third may seem redundant and not crucial given my gift for the gab, but the business of this time in my life makes it important. I need to put intentional space in my schedule to connect with those I love, those who are important to me. I also need to practice viewing that time as beneficial, not a waste.
The last one may raise eyebrows, but I wager you'd be convinced once you saw my grocery bill (or lack there of). Dumpsters are full of food, people! And I eat it! I've just learned a different style of cooking. It benefits from cookbooks with indexes organized by ingredient, and usually starts with something along the lines of "How can I use up four cartons of mushrooms in the next three days?..."
So there it is. Late. Random. True.
The things on my mind as I'm pushing through.
photo credit: Jonathan Augsburger
