Growing Up

For the past few weeks I've been figuring out my living situation for the next year. My current roommate decided to get a house with some other girls, and I've had some roommate possibilities fall through, so I'm going to live all on my own. This is a huge financial step for me and I feel like it's pushing me towards truly "growing up," considering both my freshman and sophomore year I spent in on campus housing.

I'm extremely excited now though because I set down my deposit for my new apartment which means it's really officially happening! Luckily, I won't have to buy any furniture and I'll actually be getting some more space (i.e. a walk in closet). What's making this growing up and being on my own situation a little more interesting is I'll be getting my first credit card. Cue some moans and groans from financial people. But I'm smarter than I look! I definitely live by the "if you don't have it don't spend it" motto, and only purchase things when I can pay straight from my checking account. But at my age, I need to start establishing credit so that I'm not screwed when I go to make some big purchases, like a house or car, in the next 5-10 years.

Now I'm starting off easy. This new apartment is giving me a launch for the sheer fact that all the bills will be in my name. The twist, is I do still get financial help from my parents. They do help me pay my bills because I'm not able to work enough to pay them myself. School was always the deal to come first. But since my parents help me, my bills will always be paid, and paid on time. And when they're going through my credit card first, my credit will build up nicely.

Some people may call this not really growing up and that's ok. I think I'm taking advantage of the areas in which I'm blessed to help myself transition into true adulthood. My parents might not have been able to outright pay for my education, but if they can help me out here so when I do move into the big girl world, I think it's a good plan.

Beginning of Summer Reflection...

So normally when I receive my grades for the semester I spend a good deal reflecting on my semester and generally crying over how I should've tried harder, stayed up that one extra hour, and made a few more flash cards. This semester thankfully I got the grades I wanted (2 A's, 2 B's) so I'm getting to spend less time reflecting on how I messed up and more on actual life.

Thanks to the fact that I've recently been reading #GIRLBOSS by Nasty Gal founder Sophie Amoruso, I've been thinking hard on how I want my senior year of college to go. For one thing, how the hell am I a senior already because high school went by slower than molasses. But I digress. This semester left me feeling like I'm still lacking in direction for my future. I have so many interests I want to explore but no time to explore them. Well false, I have plenty of technical time. But when you have 6 months after graduation to start paying student loans you don't really have much time.... So obviously I went to school to become an architect, and I still love architecture. But I'd rather go into interior design. But then I'm also now interested in architectural writing thanks to the class I took this semester. I also would love to just get a jump start into any design field like graphic design. There's so many options that I don't know where to go.

This book has got me thinking on being steadfast and persistent with my future. I want to go in somewhere and get my hands dirty. It's also reminding me that I'm not going to be financially stable overnight, or even good at my job right away. I have to work my way up somewhere in any field, which is a daunting task, especially when every job I've ever had has only been over the summer. But I have a whole year to figure things out, and I also have the slight possibility of continuing on to 5th year of architecture school.

I've also been reflecting on my relationship with my boyfriend, Billy. We've been dating a little over a year and this summer he'll be away in Michigan for an internship. In the past semester I've come to realize that if he isn't my soul mate I don't know who is. He's my best friend, my confidant, and I look to him before anyone else for advice. He's been gone for about 5 days now and I already miss him more than I've missed anyone, even my mom. He has all these plans for his career, and it's been interesting adjusting to someone factoring me into their plans. We talk about things like his desires to move to California and work for Google in terms of both of us doing it. We've already been discussing moving in together in a year and getting married one day.

Really I'm just overly excited for the next school year to start. This summer is full of work and some play, but I'm ready to tackle my life moving forward. I'm so close to officially being on my own and being a real adult.