Hey. It’s been a sec. Welcome back!
So, where have I been, and what have I been doing? Lots.
A brief recap!
Fresh out of high school in 2022, I moved to San Diego, California to attend the University of San Diego. I loved the school and met and befriended such incredible people there, but it was also a tough year. Looking back, I had no idea what I was doing. I knew I wanted to go to college out of high school, but I wasn’t sure what I would study, or honestly, who I was or what I wanted from life. I let fear hold me back in more ways than one. I decided not to return for sophomore year. From there, I had no clue. I decided to switch my major and embrace what I knew all along I really wanted to study- Gender. USD didn’t offer this major, reinforcing my decision to leave. Deadlines had passed for many schools and I also was still feeling lost on what to do, so I decided to buy myself some time and attend Rutgers University for the fall while I sorted out a plan of action. I look back on my time there fondly. It changed me greatly, in the best way. And, I did sort out a plan: Finish my fall semester at Rutgers, then spend the spring on a three-month solo backpacking travel through Western Europe.
A note: I know I haven’t posted anything on the blog about this trip yet. I’m working on something now, and as much as the perfectionist in me would love this blog to be perfectly chronologically posted, that may be slightly impossible. But I’ll get over it, because I really want to take my time and be creative and inspired by what I do with all my pictures, camera footage, the journals I filled, and reflections and put it all together in a cool way that I love. So, it may take a while.
Before I left for this trip, I decided to apply to a few different universities in the hopes that I could start fresh somewhere that felt, right. Then, I would spend the summer working at home in our bakery, then head off to that new school in the fall. I wrote some good essays, swiped my card for the application fees, and hoped for the best.
But as we all know, it’s a bit ambitious to sketch out an entire year of your life and hope it all just goes to plan and falls perfectly into place. Which is why it’s still a little surprising that that’s exactly what happened.
SUMMER 24
I spent this summer the way I’ve spent every single one since I was born: in the bakery. Truly, nothing feels more like home to me than sipping a hot mug of bakery coffee in the shop before the sun has come up.
It was a quiet, healing summer. I did lots of working. Lots of thinking. Lots of other things. It felt like it flew by.
At one point in the summer, I heard back from University of Miami. I was accepted to the university. I was accepted into my school and major. And, they were giving me a full ride. I wouldn’t have to pay any tuition at all. And, they were giving me over ten thousand dollars a year to go towards my off-campus housing and any other costs.
I figured that was as good of a sign as any that I should go, so I accepted their offer and moved to Miami in the middle of August.
MOVING TO MIAMI
So, I finished off my summer, said some tough goodbyes, filled the tank of my Honda Civic, ate one last Dot’s donut, and set off for Florida. I’ve done this drive many, many times throughout my life, but I appreciated this time. Me and my dad drove together, so he could help move me in (my mom moved me into San Diego, and they both moved me into Rutgers).
I saw my house for the first time and later, my school. I think it’s kinda funny how I keep moving to new cities without ever having been to them first. My first time seeing San Diego, New Brunswick, and Miami was all move-in day. The campus of the University of Miami is beautiful. It feels like I’m walking through a resort or country club sometimes.
Another update- I bought a moped. See, I’m living in a house off-campus, and a parking permit to park on campus for classes was around $650 for one year. After a phone call, I learned a “motorcycle” permit was $120 for the year, so I basically had $530 free dollars to put towards a moped. A moped which, I thought, would be much more fun than driving to class, had the potential to be resold to make money back (unlike a permit), gets 100 mpg, and would save me money over two years. So I bought one! It’s been lots of fun. It reminds me of driving one all over the Mediterranean islands of Malta with Christina, my favorite Aussie friend I met abroad. I drove one there for the first time! Also crashed one for the first time!
Also in Miami, much to my language learner’s delight, there is so much Spanish. I love seeing the billboards, talking to random people I meet outside of bars, or checking out at a store in casual Spanish. Not only is it helpful to become fluent, it’s so fun! Of course, I expected this, apparently about 70% of the population of Miami-Dade speaks Spanish. But it’s so cool to be out and about and hear and see that language all around me.
I’ve started exploring my new city a bit. Particularly, I’ve been on a grocery chain crawl. At home, I have two choices of grocery stores, and I’m always nervous to go to them anyway because my ex has worked at both. I’ve so far I’ve made one trip each to Milan’s Market, Whole Foods, Presidente, Publix, Aldis, Trader Joe’s, Target, and Walmart. And there are plenty more to try.
That’s one thing I love about a new city, or any city – there are so many choices. A million new coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries, yoga classes, beaches, roads to drive, people to meet, parks to walk in, and stores to shop in, views to see.
HOW I’M FEELING NOW
I adore the fresh start feeling that comes with being in a new place.
I’ve been adjusting to school after a spring and summer off, though the adjustment hasn’t been hard. Part of me loves the routine of being in college. My classes (early of course), going to the gym, cooking all my meals, doing schoolwork in the library, relaxing at home, going out and about every once in a while. I simultaneously love and hate that most days follow the same schedule.
I also have some great roommates who are cool as fuck, some really amazing professors I already love, and enough sunshine (and rain) to be more than happy.
And, the truth is that I like school! I (mostly) don’t even mind the workload because I’m studying things I care about. I enjoy the things I learn, and I enjoy being in classes taught by experts on topics I would be learning on my own anyway.
I will say, there is a part of me that hates being stuck in one spot. I’m planning to stick to UMiami until I get my undergraduate degree, which means the next two school years, I’ll be here. I think about how I could be doing, well, anything else. Get a cheap flight somewhere I’ve never been. Learn Spanish and French in Morocco or Mexico rather than a textbook. Go join the Peace Corps, or get a job at a cafe in Australia, teach English abroad, volunteer at a hostel, or literally anything else that would be 100 times as fun as sitting in a lecture for a mandatory Math class I don’t want to be in. Part of me wants to just run away. Another part of me just wants to sit tight until I get my diploma, then set off. I don’t want to waste this time away, either. I know I want to get a degree, and for that reason, I know I will. As of right now, I still want that date to be Spring of 2026, but who knows. I brought this up to my mom, and instead of encouraging me to sit tight and finish college as most mothers might, she reminded me of her own college experience.
“What’s the main reason for wanting to graduate at any specific time?
You’re young. Healthy. The world will be waiting for you whether you get the degree now or later. Time goes so quickly.
Don’t look back & wonder what my hurry was to grow up & get the real job. It doesn’t exist.
If it’s your heart’s desire then absolutely pursue it!
But – I wouldn’t want to see you close doors of opportunity because of a time frame that doesn’t need to exist.
I’m not saying 5 states, 11 years & 9 schools was a good idea.
I would just want you to make your own time frame without the pressure of what’s expected by whomever.”
Yeah, it took her nine different universities to get her diploma, which makes my (current) three look like light work. Also, I love my mom.
So, we’ll see what’s next. Will she stay in one city long enough to get her degree? Will she drop everything and leave the country? Who knows! I don’t.
Anyway, here I am! Living it up in the 305. Miami is definitely different than any other city I’ve lived in, but I’m already falling in love with it, as I have with every other place I’ve been. There are wild peacocks on my morning walks, Cuban espresso in my café con leche, and palm trees to lay under on the beach. Life is good.
