Another long year is drawing nearer to a close. In the spirit of doing something new and wholesome, I challenged myself to look back at 2018 and review all of the beautiful things and experiences I was blessed with within just the last 12 months of my life. 2017 was the year to beat, and 2018 has done so with flying colors. In fact, since 2016, each year has continued to get more and more fulfilling. Not only is this a rewarding fact to know and say as the ball prepares to drop on New Year’s Eve, but it creates incredibly positive momentum leading into the new year. In preparation for my usual bittersweet goodbye, let’s talk about some of the highlights of my 2018.

January was a pretty gratifying start to the year! On January 1, 2018, I stepped on the scale and witnessed the lowest number I had seen since middle school! I was one day into 2018 and already winning one of the hardest, most important battles of my life. Around January 17, I would celebrate my first full year of membership at a public gym. I signed up to join Planet Fitness in January of 2017 knowing everyone looked at me with unconvinced eyes. To them, I was just another quick-to-end case of “new year, new me” who would probably not show her face in the gym again once February arrived. I proved them and myself wrong. In January of 2019, I will celebrate two years of membership and commitment to Planet Fitness, and I can’t wait. Maybe two days later, on January 19, I was admitted to Wayne State University as a student. This was a huge moment for me because I never expected to resume my studies, and certainly not at a university. I had no idea where I would even get money for community college classes since I was too young to be considered independent and making too much money to receive much financial aid. I began to accept the idea that I would never finish my degree. I was invited to join the Irvin D. Reid Honors College a couple of days after completing the transfer admission process. I was flattered, considering I had yet to even take a class at the university. I’m so thankful that my hard work in community college ended up paying off in such an unexpected way!

Life continued to meet various highs and lows before peaking in May. On the first of May, I began unpacking all of my belongings in my first apartment. After months of scouting, touring, and planning, I landed in one of the quietest, most quaint apartment complexes located just minutes from where I had lived for the last five years. I had a gorgeous, clean, 725 square-foot apartment all to myself. After a few years of job changes, business changes, and just not making enough money to support myself comfortably, I was out on my own and calling all of the shots! I had a short few days to get settled in before the start of my first semester of classes at Wayne State. It felt great to set up my office knowing I would be spending a ton of time there studying — something I did not think I would be fortunate enough to do again. So many things were changing in my life. In just eight months I had gotten a new job, a new home, I had resumed my education, and with that, I became increasingly interested in my portfolio and my professional representation. I was so inspired that I continued working and publishing content on my website. I have a place to express myself whenever I want and showcase my creative, academic, and professional portfolios. Five months into the year, I had everything I could have asked for as a young, independent woman.

Before long, June blew in and left a trail of opportunity in its wake. During the first week of June, I began working with The South End, Wayne State’s student news publication, as a copy editor. I was so relieved to finally have an opportunity to utilize and improve my writing and editing abilities. There were few internships accessible to me since I was also a Wayne State staff member, but I refused to let that stop me. After some much-needed soul-searching, I switched from my comfortable and flexible communications major to a public relations major. After building such an excellent image for myself, and having so much fun doing it, I believed this career switch was the best decision for me. Public relations was an unfamiliar territory at the time, and I felt brave when I decided to make it the focus of my studies. I had always been a good speaker, I interviewed very well, I represented myself in a very professional manner, and I was confident I could do the same in the industry. One day, while I was opportunity searching among my student community, I ran into someone who offered to take me on as an intern for her business. I was a little skeptical at first because things seemed to be coming together too perfectly, but I realized this woman, as a graduate of Wayne State University, would be able to mentor me when it came to my writing and public relations aspirations. I began this internship at the beginning of August. In August, the month I dubbed “development month,” I also had the great fortune of earning my Accredited Project Manager Certification (APRM) and a Certificate from Poynter Newsroom/ACES (American Copy Editor Society) in Editing! I felt like I had years of school and experience to make up to compete with the young adults my age who were graduating with Bachelor’s degrees. I have since realized that I am much better off than I would have been had I accepted loans to complete my Bachelor’s degree two years ago. I have nothing to make up for, but everything to look forward to.

September started with my second semester of classes at WSU. I wanted to make sure with two internships, two courses, and a full-time job, I was able to stay afloat and hold onto my sanity. For a while, I felt like superwoman. I was the kid that sat around and played video games all day long in middle school, so I never thought I would accomplish so many great things. I celebrated my first anniversary with Wayne State and my 23rd birthday (only separated by five days) at the end of September. It was a pretty simple month for me until I received another internship offer from New York Minute Magazine (no worries, I would not be working all three at once!)

Although we are only midway through December, and there is no telling what amazing things may still be in store for me, I can honestly say it has been another productive month. I participated in the MCWTF Web Design Contest as a first-round judge, which was such an empowering experience. I love content creation and creativity in general, so having the opportunity to review and judge web pages for high school students was a very enriching experience. I have also decided to revisit the daily planner logging and goal tracking habit that I had towards the beginning of the year. I love being able to set goals and have them in a tangible, viewable form. This process has always helped me stay focused and attentive to the things I want and need in life. With the skills and experience I have gotten from 2018 alone, and a means of putting my plans into action, I am confident that 2019 will be another incredible year and an astonishing triumph. When it comes time to look back on 2019 next December, I will have a planner full of progress and accomplishments to reflect on. If you are someone who likes to write down what you want, what you need, or what you have accomplished come the new year, I suggest incorporating a goal tracker or life planner into your daily or weekly regimen. I think you may be surprised at the insurmountable difference these tools can make! Just don’t forget to live these experiences and enjoy them!

I hope you are ending your year on as good of a note as I am! There have been some years that I could not wait to see come to an end. The older I get, the more resourceful and ambitious I become, which allows me to do so much more with each year. It will be sad to say goodbye to 2018, but so exciting to say hello to 2019. If there is anything you want to do or need to do, you still have two full weeks to get it done! Don’t wait until tomorrow. Start today. Go make something incredible happen so that on December 31, 2018, at 11:58 p.m. you can say “I’m so glad I did that.”

Best of luck to all of you! I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!