My Year Wrapped Up!

What Happened In 2018?

Another year has come and gone and it was full of trying times and loads of excitement! I had many lasts but also a ton of firsts! I'm notoriously bad at documenting my life in pictures so it may be difficult to remember what all I did this year and I'm not going to add any pictures to this post because it would just be a lot. I'll do a year in pictures post this weekend (maybe.) 

January 2018

In January of 2018 I started my last semester of college. At that point I was still set on becoming a marriage and family therapist and was starting to look into grad schools for that field (obvi that didn't happen.) I took my awesome seminar on death with my mentor and read some really great books on the topic. I read my favorite book of the year, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. My blog turned two years old and my dog tore her ACL (don't worry, it's better now!) 

February 2018

Had my last "rush" parties for SAI and had wonderful new pledges. Played in my last season of basketball pep band. We had a concert band reunion, which was neat to meet a bunch of alum that were also in band. Got to do some volunteer work with my SAI sisters for the music department. Had my 3rd(?) Valentine's Day friend date with AA and we camped in with Netflix and hibachi food.

March 2018

I don't remember much of what happened in March. I went to a play in Little Rock with my friend, I sat on my butt ad read during spring break, and I got a pomegranate plant that I named Pam. I attended my last Province Day for SAI as well and our chapter received two awards! I also had an existential crisis and kind of freaked out about what I was doing with my life. I decided that I did not want to become a marriage and family therapist after all. I had to do some soul-searching and talk it out with several people who are close to me. I didn't really figure out what I wanted to do until probably the middle of April, maybe later and that made me anxious and unsure of myself. 

April 2018

Lots of lasts happened in April. My last Tiger Traks, my last Chapel, and my last SAI fundraiser. I took senior pictures in a library to announce that I was going to be pursuing a Masters in Library Sciences. I didn't read very much because I was trying to focus on all of my final tests, projects, papers and whatnot so I could graduate! I think I started getting my life back together and was feeling better about what I was going to do after graduation! 

May 2018

I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a minor in Psychology! Graduating in three years was truly a blessing, as it helped me not to acquire more debt and allowed me to start my Masters degree early! I was awarded Outstanding Senior in Sociology, the Sigma Alpha Iota Collegiate Honor Award, and the Sigma Alpha Iota Scholastic Award. I got to see Palaye Royale in concert the night before graduation, I moved back home for a little bit and worked on applying to grad school. My older sister graduated from college and I got to see her walk across the stage and it was just overall a really great month. 

June 2018

June was full of excitement for me. I played Bunco with the ladies in our neighborhood and won! I got to go to Disney World with my mom's side of the family, which was super fun and just an absolute joy to be back in one of my favorite places in the world. I turned 21. I got accepted into grad school at Texas Woman's University. I got hired at my first big girl job as the Assistant Archivist at Ouachita, and I moved in with AA's parents so I could save up some money for an apartment. I got to be a bridesmaid in one of my great friend's wedding and two of my other really great friends got married as well! Oh and Panic! at the Disco released their new album on my birthday so, no big deal. 

July 2018

In July, I participated in the Booktubeathon for the first time and was successful in completing all of the challenges for that! I started my new job. AA and I lived at her parents' house by ourselves for a month while they were on vacation which was a ton of fun. Started grad school and thus started balancing full-time work with full-time grad school. I also saw Knox Hamilton in concert for the second time with a bunch of my gal pals in Little Rock!

August 2018

Saw Christopher Robin with my mom and sister and bawled my eyes out through the whole movie. Winnie celebrated her 10th birthday!!! I don't remember much else happening. I worked and did school and read and that's probably about it. 

September 2018 

Finished my 60th book of the year on National Read A Book Day, co-created my first exhibit with the archives for Tiger Tunes, more work, more school and that's about it for September.

October 2018

My favorite month of the year! I did my second year of Spooky Season Outfit Challenge, freaked out over the new twentyone pilots album, wrote a blog post for Ouachita's blog, got to attend an awesome workshop on the care and identification of photographs, rescued a puppy and returned him back to his owner, more work, more school, and I got to celebrate lots of birthdays in the month of October.

November 2018

Did lots of end-of-semester assignments for grad school, went ice-skating with friends, made a bunch of realllly goofy videos with AA, got my first credit card, lived at AA's house for a little bit by myself while her parents were on vacation, and that's about all.

December 2018

I finished up my first semester of grad school, did a buddy-read of a terrible book with one of my colleagues, had Jurassic Park themed Christmas with my dad's side of the family, and celebrated AA's birthday with friends and family. I also moved into my first apartment!!! I've been buying things over the years to prepare for this day and I still had to put out a lot to get a bunch of stuff so that felt super rewarding to see it all come together in my first place. 

It has been quite the year! I'm thankful for all the people who have helped me along the way, whether it be housing me while I saved up money, mentored me on life choices, or was just there to help me have fun and get out of my comfort zone. I'm excited to see what 2019 has in store! ~Em