Reflecting on 2025 feels strange- so much had happened throughout the course of the year that makes everything feel so distant, but at the same time, it's hard to notice that it's over. At the beginning of the year, I made a few unexpected decisions that changed the trajectory of the rest of my year- and honestly, the rest of my life, too. But I noticed the most personal growth as I transitioned from summer to fall. 

 

I started my year in a normal semester, thrown into architectural studios and crashing out over the state of my portfolio. I was getting myself ready to jump into the job search once again, with no clue at all where I would end up for my co-op during the summer. At the same time, everyone around me was talking about study abroad. Studying abroad wasn't necessarily ever something I genuinely saw in my future because it felt unrealistic and far-fetched, but there was always a lingering excitement towards the idea of it. I am very happy to say that it was not as far-fetched as I thought. 

I applied to jobs only in New York City in our first round of applications- and heard back from none of them. I applied to jobs around Chicago, Boston, California- and heard back from none of them. The job market was horrible for everyone, even people I would never have imagined to be at risk were not receiving any offers. I panicked, applied to every single job listing I could find, and ended up in Washington D.C. It was a huge relief to get that offer, but at first this was honestly a disappointing achievement. It was not what I'd imagined for my last co-op semester, especially when looking up my future firm online brought up a lot of negative feedback from past employees. "If you're nice, you won't last long" and a series of complaints about the misogyny, toxic environment, and horrible hours were all starting to turn my disappointment to pure panic. I went into my summer semester with the lowest expectations, which turned out to be pretty optimistic compared to how the semester actually went. 

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The craziest thing about the summer: I loved work. I never experienced toxicity or hostility or anything like that at that firm. Work was the best, and maybe the only good thing, to come from that semester. Everything else, though... My housing situation might have been the root of all evil: In a bad location (maybe the worst place I could have lived in the area), one and a half hour commute to work (via bus, train, AND walking), and a bug-infested, tension-filled house. I could complain for a thousand more words, but the sparknotes version is that I did not have a very good semester in the summer. 

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This made it even more meaningful to study abroad in the fall. I was more than ready to leave D.C. and even more excited for everything up ahead. My excitement and expectations were high, and Italy did not disappoint. All of the people I was meeting, the places I was traveling to, classes I was taking, and food I was eating were completely exceeding all expectations. I traveled almost every single weekend, exploring cities I never would have imagined myself ending up in. I was able to visit friends and reconnect with long-distance family on some of these trips. I was in places I've never been, planning for situations I'd never considered before, eating new foods, meeting new people: I learned so much about myself, my priorities, and more about the world around me. 

 

So, this year was a little bit of a rollercoaster. I jumped all over the globe and had both the best and worst semesters of my college career- but the common theme was learning more about myself and what's important to me. The biggest lesson was follow-through. To make those hard decisions and to follow through despite fear, letting your life be malleable bears the best lessons and experiences.