First Year of College Reflection + Summer Moves
Wow, I can't believe my first year at community college is officially over. No year in high school comes even close to the amount of growth I've been through this first year. Going from working a fast food job I hated to making money online through marketing, this year has been full of ups and downs. But I'm happy to say it was a massive success, marked by wins in my personal and academic life.
Personally, this year has been full of lessons, challenges, and blessings. Learning to self-manage in community college was ROUGH. There were dreadful weeks where the loneliness was crippling and I got by doing the bare minimum. Learning to live on my own while holding myself accountable to stay on top of my various responsibilities was a lesson I'll carry with me the rest of my life. In terms of blessings, man, this year was full of them.
I got into my first committed relationship and my girl and I are going on 6 months strong. The challenges of long distance are nothing to overlook and it requires real effort to make it work. Another blessing is that I've finally begun seeing success in my social media and marketing career. My whole life, I've had a passion for this space and I've been gifted the opportunity to really work and earn from it! Spideytalks, my faith-based self-improvement account, has grown to 20k+ followers. I've gotten to work with several different brands in my personal UGC business, which allowed me to quit my fast food job. And my most recent opportunity, I've been blessed to serve as CMO at Bridge2, a small college consulting firm I'm really passionate about. I thank God each and every day for these opportunities to work in a space I find truly fulfilling.
Academically, we're holding on strong! I finished this year with a 4.0 GPA and fully intend to ride that momentum into next year. Beyond the grades, I've had the opportunity to stack my resume with strong extracurriculars to maximize my transfer chances. My marketing work, volunteering at church, holding down a job, and running this blog have all been experiences I'll cherish forever.
Just because it's summer doesn't mean I'm going to slack off. I have a lot of plans I want to put into motion now that I have time away from school. Obviously, we're doubling down on all the social media and marketing work, uploading videos for Spideytalks, Bridge2, and this blog. I've also been in talks with a marketing agency about potentially joining their team, which would get me back to producing UGC content and making some more money. On the internship front, I have two potential summer opportunities: an administrative and marketing role at my old high school, and a real estate internship at an office here in town. My last major summer goal is to write a book, a daily devotional, to be specific. I've been brainstorming this idea for a while, and I want to create a 90-day Bible devotional targeted toward teens and young adults, built off the momentum of Spideytalks.
No matter what this summer ends up looking like, I have no doubt it'll be a good one.
