My college experience has been far more unorthodox than one would expect. I started my time at Lafayette College, where I spent two and a half years. There were good times with great friends and fun classes, but due to some personal issues I had to leave that institution. From there, I started working at a local Acme for some steady cash and applied to CCP. I started a two year certificate and degree program, and have just recently finished my first internship and first year. By now, I would’ve graduated if I stayed on the pace of the standard four years of college experience. While I have some regret over my current time table, I am much happier going down the path I have. My last year is coming up fast, and it’s going to be a race to the finish.
I’m starting this dash with two main goals for the fall: land a full-time position and quit working at Acme, and finish my fall semester with high standing. Juggling these two tasks feels like I’m starting this race going uphill, and somehow my legs are already cramping. I plan to just drink my water, burn the linkedin webpage into my brain, and cram what’s left of it with everything for my classes. I may just finish third because I’m overloading myself, but I’ll be more than happy to place.
Getting closer to the finish line lines up with my spring semester. Ideally, I’m maintaining whatever full-time position I’ve acquired and going through what would now be the familiar class grind. If I’m wise, I’ll learn from the fall and have a far easier time in the spring. If I’m me, I’ll deal with familiar problems and freak out in the exact same way. I believe I’ll be able to hold a solid cadence to bring me to the end. If I can handle this part, I can be done at the end of summer.
That checkered line for me to cross looks like an internship class over that last summer. If we’re sticking with the analogy of a race, I’ll have locked into a full sprint to cross this goal post. How? If I can keep my flow through fall and spring, then I’ll have a full-time job in my field that I can continue to work at as my internship. This is my best case scenario. Is this likely to happen? With how life is, very much no. But if I can have some schedule aligned for myself, I can adjust far easier. Even if I celebrate too early and fall and scrape my everything, I can stand easier with this plan. Wish me luck.
Featured image by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash.
