Year One? Check.

It's official... I made it through my first year of graduate school. It's been a rough year and I've had to work really hard, but it all paid off. I am now a "second year." I love it! Now everything comes down to this one last year... I am realizing that there are so many things to figure out! It's my last year EVER to be a student. I've been one so long, I can't even imagine what it's like to not be one. It's a little overwhelming to think that I have a year left to do whatever growing up I have left to do. However, I have decided the best thing to do is to take it one day at a time. Freaking out and worrying about things now will only cause more trouble. Part of growing up is knowing how to handle the uncertainties that life deals you. I may not know all the details and outcomes of what will happen after graduation, but that is okay. I must commit myself to doing the very best I can here and now so that transition will be less stressful. Other than those concerns, I am looking forward to diving into the world of practicing speech-language pathology. This past year has been a wonderful experience (one heck of a roller coaster!) that has really confirmed that this profession is as rewarding and intriguing as I'd imagined it would be.

Finals week was about two weeks ago, and I have one more week left of my "summer" before beginning summer class and clinic. The three week break has been great! I spent a week at home with my family and then came back to Norman to begin getting things in shape for the next round of classes. I got to go on a mini-vacation this weekend to Dallas with a couple of good friends. We went to Six Flags, lounged by the pool, went to an interesting little theatre, and had some of the best Mexican food I've ever experienced. So much fun! Now that I'm back though, it's time to get down to business. I have so much cleaning/reorganizing to do before school resumes. I am also in the process of packing. I will be finally making the move to OKC on July 1st. It is so much closer to school and all my off-campus clinical rotations. Driving 40 minutes (sometimes more with traffic) every day really started to get annoying. I have already secured a pretty fabulous apartment with one of the girls in my class. She's great! I am looking forward to all the fun times that await us! I am a little sad to leave Norman behind, but I have so many wonderful memories that I can take with me. The friendships I have made here are beautiful and strong, and I am more than confident that they will still exist outside of Norman. I am excited to start a new chapter of my life as a resident of OKC!

As for my heart, it too has been on a wild ride this year. So many emotions have overtaken me throughout the journey. I've been overwhelmed, stressed beyond belief, excited, nervous, overjoyed, terrified, heartbroken, worried... you name it. I feel like somewhat of a failure as a friend. I've had to lock myself in my room to study on several occasions, completely abandoning my roommates. Some days they did not even see me at all, but they have been very supportive through everything. That has been a blessing! I also had to examine the friendships that I had with others, because this year truly tried and tested them. I feel like I lost touch with many people, but those that managed to hang on are treasures to me. It takes a really good, sincere friend to stick with you when you are in your own world of chaos. I am so lucky to have them! Something else this year has taught me is that sometimes people just may not want to be your friend and there's nothing you can do about it. A friendship cannot exist as a one-sided relationship, it must be a mutual effort. You can go out of your way trying to make it work, but it just doesn't seem to help. People change. Their interests change. Their goals change. The personality they have adopted just may not click with yours the way it once did. It's a sad truth to face and it's been quite difficult to accept, but at this point all I can do is pray that those friendships may one day be restored. I know that God has a plan in all of this! He has worked things out so many times before, He'll do it again. It is so comforting to know that He'll always hold my hand through everything.

Now that I've written a novel, I should probably stop. I should get better about updating so I can prevent mile-long posts from here on out! Here's to better luck with the next post!