2017 Recap

Ok, so Jordan just posted her 2017 recap, and I loved the idea so I thought I would do one! Quick disclaimer, 2017/junior year was rough for me, I'm not going to share everything here (maybe a post for another time), but I want to keep this fairly positive and use it as a chance to reflect on everything I learned/did in 2017.

January: December 2016/January 2017 were pretty much not great (i.e. terrible). Again, not getting into it, but I just wanted to share that looking back (even though I still shudder when I think about this time), I think I kind of needed to go through it, even if only to prove that I was strong enough to actually get through it.

February: I got super close with my family this month. Think 17 people in one tiny cottage in the woods for a weekend. We were already super close, but because of the distance, school, and work, we haven't actually all been together in a long time, so getting to spend this long weekend together was amazing.

March: If you read this post, you'll know my skin went a little cray-cray this month. So yeah, I really had to accept that what I look does not define me (a skill I'm still trying to learn today). It seems a little petty now, but this actually ended up being huge for me and I'm definitely more confident in my own skin.

April: This was another crazy, busy, and stressful month. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't really remember anything from April but I keep a journal so I went back to it and April was filled with lots of "rough day...", "ugh....", and "aghhh", so yeah, it was not great.

May: This month I spent a ton of time studying for my SAT Subject Tests. Spoiler alert: this was not working out for me. I was trying to study for 3 different tests to see what I would do well on, but nothing (literally nothing) was clicking. I ended up needing to take a step back, pick one exam and actually take a break from studying. I would get so focused and hung up on a few points that it was actually making my score 10x worse. After realizing this, it did all end up working out, but it did take some trial and error + some perseverance.

June: Junior year ended (thank the lord). But other than sad/school things, I also had my first photo-shoot for dance. I'm still obsessed with these pictures, I will always treasure the candids of me laughing with all my friends, and it really was the first time I felt truly pretty.

July: I ended up creating my own internship for over the summer, and although it was so much fun, it was also a little stressful and kind of intimidating. I would never ever in a million years classify myself as a hip hop dancer, so walking into a room filled with some of the greatest names in street dance was crazy scary. But everyone turned out to be incredibly nice and welcoming, and this internship was an amazing opportunity. A bonus: I figured out how to navigate the NYC subway system.

August: I turned 17 in August, so that was pretty awesome. Nothing too eventful happened, I spent a ton of my summer working on college applications which wasn't great but needed to be done. August was also the month when I truly learned how strong I could be. I was at the gym every day this summer, and I felt amazing. This now seems a little dumb to write down, but I think it's important to share the moments when you feel really great about yourself.

September: The start of senior year - crazy! The beginning of the year was super stressful and busy as I was working on all my college applications and trying to keep up with all my classes but it was also filled with tons of fun memories!

October: October was actually a fantastic months. There were so many nights I came home saying "that was actually the best night ever". Shoutout to all my friends reading this: you guys are the best!

November: Early decision applications were due November 1st, so the rest of the month was filled with working on my regular decision applications. We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time, which was tons of fun.

December: This month was slightly (very) crazy. My schedule was jam packed and school was still super stressful. I preformed in The Nutcracker which ended up taking up a ton of my time. Um, also, I got into my top choice university! It was definitely hard talking to those who were deferred, but my whole friend group was so supportive of everyone else. Also Christmas was fantastic!



So ya, this year definitely had some ups and downs, but I survived. And no matter how suck-y it seemed at the time, so did you! I hope this didn't come across as too complain-y, I really just wanted to share a little bit of my life. Let me know some of your highlights/lowlights down below, I'd love to hear how you spent your year. Also, a HUGE, GIGANTIC THANK YOU to all of you guys. We love creating content for you guys and we love hearing all your feedback. You guys are awesome and we are so so so grateful for you all.

XOXO,

Samantha