?It?s been a great year! Thanks for being a part of it.? If you have a Facebook account, you?ve most likely seen those words followed by a year-in-review post in the past week. This is the time of year when we look back at the things we?ve accomplished, the places we?ve gone and the people we?ve met.
For me, 2014 was full of new accomplishments, new places and new people.
In January, I began my second semester of my freshman year of college with a new major. I added a secondary education major to my journalism major (which I later dropped completely) and began to explore the possibility of being a teacher.
Usually, February is a pretty boring month, but this year it was made exciting through the Valentine?s banquet at Hillsboro MB Church. One of my favorite Christian bands, Citizen Way, was the banquet?s entertainment. Through helping my aunt cater the event, I got to listen to them perform and met the band members afterward. They even liked and commented on my Instagram picture that I posted that night. I was definitely a little star struck.
March was full of school and basketball. Then in April, I went on my first trip of the year. I traveled to San Diego with a group of Kansas State journalism education students to help run the National Journalism Conference through Journalism Education Association, which is headquartered at K-State. It was an exhausting, fun and sometimes frustrating learning experience. The last day we got to relax and spend time touring the beautiful city, which made me even more excited about the trip to Europe I would be taking soon.
In May, I finished my first year of college after what turned out to be an interesting, change-filled school year. I was attending a different school and pursuing a different major than I had entered the school year with and was very glad of it.
By this point, my countdown to Europe was in full swing and I could barely contain my excitement. If you want a detailed account of my trip to England, France and Italy in June, check out my previous columns. All I will say here is that my trip to Europe was definitely the highlight of 2014 for me.
The rest of summer passed quickly, with a week spent counseling at Bible camp and the rest of the time spent working.
August brought the beginning of my sophomore year of college and a new place to live. I moved into my first off-campus housing, a duplex with two other girls, and quickly learned the ups and downs of making my own meals and driving to school each day.
In the fall semester, I took two classes that got me really excited about being a teacher. In my Foundations of Education class and Literature for Adolescents class, I had two very inspirational teachers. Their dedication and enthusiasm made the classes, which already involved interesting and fun content, pretty life changing. I also got to spend time observing a classroom this semester, which made me more excited about having a classroom of my own some day.
These past four months went by super fast. I kept busy with school, my new job as a student writer for K-State Global Campus and coming home to watch my sister?s volleyball games.
While this is a good time to reflect on my year, it?s also a time to look forward to the new things, places and people of 2015. I?ve been involved with the campus ministry Cru since my freshman year and I?ve recently been accepted to go on their summer mission at Disney World. I?ll write more about that when I get more information in January, but I am so excited about the opportunity.
In 2014, I traveled the world and learned from inspiring teachers. I can?t wait to see what I?ll do, where I?ll go and who I?ll meet in 2015. Happy New Year!
