From Chicago to Carolina

I'm a Chicagoan and lifetime midwesterner flying south to North Carolina for grad school. These are my adventures in southern living, working with a few hundred first-year college students, and hitting the books for a degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs.

This was the former home to my Photo 365 Project from 2011, so check it out in the link above to see it!

It’s not a forever goodbye.

At just three days away from hopping on a plane and flying south, the worst has finally come.

The goodbyes.

Sure, I knew it was coming. And I’ve said plenty of goodbyes before now. I’ve moved 10 times. After graduation every year, I say goodbye to people moving on to start a new chapter. People are constantly coming in and out of our lives.

This time it seems so much harder.

The people here in Chicago are pretty amazing. I’ve had staff push me to do what I love, to challenge myself, and to reach for the stars. My friends have always been there for the laughs, the tears, and the last minute adventures for thai food and frozen yogurt. These people are now my family, and they’ve supported me in ways I could never thank them for.

Of course, there’s my actual family too. I know I’ll see them again in December. But 6 months is officially the longest I’ve gone without seeing them, and I have a knack for being homesick.

This is it. As a 22 year old grad student, it’s time to go off on my own, but I will carry a piece of all of these people with me. Whether it be in a picture, a post-it note, a wolf hat, or a memory. After all, it’s not a forever goodbye, it’s just an “I’ll see you later.” And I have two couches that are just waiting for their first visitor.