Posts in Life
So This is the Desert, Then, Part II
So This is the Desert, Then, Part II

It’s been a year. I think that’s the best way to summarize my first year after college, because the statement “it’s been a year” is wide enough in ambiguity yet concise enough in simplicity to accommodate both the good and bad. So, yeah, it’s been a year.

Confession: This year, I had become selfish. I mean, let’s be real, I’ve always been selfish (‘Me? Selfish? But I’m perfect!’ argues my ego), but this year I was especially so.

It was always about me. But not in an openly obvious way, as though I consciously made the effort to view myself as the center of the universe. It was just the average “me, me, me” attitude that we so often perpetuate, ya know? Just continually thinking about the things common to someone who has recently graduated: What is my dream job? Where do I want to live? How can I find happiness?

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Life, Dreams, RelationshipsAlly WillisFeatured, ArchiveComment
What to Expect When You're Expecting (to Graduate), Part II
What to Expect When You're Expecting (to Graduate), Part II

In the first post I wrote for this series I talked about not wanting to leave Nashville after I graduated at the end of this semester. I talked about my fear of losing comfort and the home that I have built in a city I didn’t have to be convinced into adoring. I even emphasized the point by writing three times in italics—I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave. When I went back to read this post five minutes ago, I almost laughed out loud into my mocha.

Since I wrote that post I have decided to stay in Nashville and the voice of fear that screamed loud about not wanting to leave screams even louder about not wanting to stay.

I don’t want to stay. I don’t want to stay. I don’t want to stay.

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Dreams, Life, Graduation, CareerChelsey SatterleeFeatured, ArchiveComment
Bloom Where You Are Planted
Bloom Where You Are Planted

While there were bumps in the road (like having the flu on day 2 or traveling 12 hours from Sheffield to Edinburgh and ending up on a bus because all northbound trains were canceled due to flooding) we really did have a great time and saw some breathtaking “once in a lifetime” sights.  

But this trip had a different taste. I’ve traveled before and never felt like I was far away from home. I’ve always wanted to keep exploring, keep traveling and just keep moving. The flight home is usually a sad one. Once I step on that plane it usually means back to reality and a routine. 

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Travel, Life, DreamsJuliette KibodeauxFeaturedComment
One Year Later: A Reflection
One Year Later: A Reflection

It’s been a year since That First Year was launched. 365 days. And in those 365 days, more than 30 people (33, to be exact!) have contributed 131 posts to this li’l blog; more than 30 people have willingly put figurative pen to figurative paper to write about just how messy and confusing, yet oh-so-beautiful that first year after college can be. We’ve had posts covering the gamut of topics: from life to love to friends to travel to dreams to some of our favorite things.

“These posts are getting too relatable now.”

Someone said this about a post recently and I wanted to give ‘em a big ‘ole hug through the computer because that’s exactly what I was hoping this blog would be: a place where people can relate to the stories this community has shared. 

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Travel, Style, Money, Life, Health, Graduation, Dreams, Career, RelationshipsAlly WillisFeaturedComment
23 Things I Would Tell My Former Self
23 Things I Would Tell My Former Self

As my 23rd birthday approaches (and my 12 year-old heart is soaring because I finally get to shout the line “Nobody likes you when you’re 23” sung by Blink-182, the crown jewel of all bands), I can’t believe it’s been nearly ten years since I started high school (and my 22 year-old heart is sinking because…old). Freshman-year-me thought 23 seemed like a lifetime away, and also naively thought that I would have a boyfriend and a job in publishing by now. 

I would like to think that I’ve somewhat matured since then, which probably isn’t the case at all, but since hindsight is said to be 20/20, here are 23 things that I realize now that I may not have then:

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LifeAlyssa VottoFeatured Comment
Why So Miserable?
Why So Miserable?

I’d like to say that this entire scenario was nothing short of ridiculous, except I’m pretty sure I felt genuinely distressed. To my core. Distressed. 

Other people in traffic that night probably experienced similar unrest; I’m just not convinced they chose to heighten it. With a dangerous playlist playing and a mind wandering, it was I who set the stage for any and all anxieties/doubts/feelings to surface. Being in the car alone for an extended period of time will do that anyway, but my actions were textbook fuel-to-fire. 

It makes me wonder: am I the only one who eats this wallow-y shit up? 

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LifeLane SasserFeatured, ArchiveComment
Crawl
Crawl

Basically, I feel like my life is one big confusing mess.

I used to think I was that girl who had everything figured out. I had a plan. And when I have a plan, you better move out of the way because I move forward full speed ahead. But for the first time in my life, I have no clear cut plan. As Crater face from Grease would say “Rules? There are no rules.” “Plan? There is no plan.” And this is driving me crazy.

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LifeKaitlyn BundrickComment
On Homesickness and Other Matters of the Heart
On Homesickness and Other Matters of the Heart

Thanksgiving is so damn American. We annually celebrate our declaration of American-hood (Because what else says America!!! other than the Plymouth Plantation settlers saying, "Here we are, y’all.  Let’s eat some meat and pray"?) with one huge, gluttonous expression of thankfulness. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love America and I love this great American holiday. In years past I’ve often rolled my eyes at my parents shepherding my sister and me around the country to various relatives’ homes. Thanksgiving can mean forced conversation with distant aunts that ask what happened to your seventh grade boyfriend.  

However, being some 5,000 miles away from home can turn the thought of tryptophan comas on La-Z-Boy recliners into something much more idyllic.

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Travel, Life, RelationshipsKelsey WorshamFeaturedComment
Comparison Game: Facing Adulthood with Social Media
Comparison Game: Facing Adulthood with Social Media

Not only can I keep track of my grad school and college friends, but I’m friends with my elementary school crush. (Well, after writing this I unfriended him. It all felt too weird; he’s married now, we haven’t talked since the fourth grade, so I guess it’s time to move on.) Social media is altogether ridiculous, and it’s turned me into a modern-day Narcissus. I think it’s probably turned you into one, too.

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Life, RelationshipsRachel MallisonComment
Long Distance Lives: How to Maintain Relationships When You're Not with the People You Love
Long Distance Lives: How to Maintain Relationships When You're Not with the People You Love

I already moved five times this year and have lived in three different countries. Every time, you start from zero; you meet new people and try to make friends. I have to admit, I feel at home pretty fast. This time it took me a day (thanks to my amazing hosts). However, while building new friendships, you also have to take care of your loved ones at home. That is the hard part.

So here is what I do to maintain relationships with my friends and family back home.

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Travel, Life, RelationshipsViviane SchmidtComment
Real World 2.0
Real World 2.0

A lot has changed over the past few months. I moved into an apartment, and I have a job where people continue to congratulate me on having a job. (Is it written on my face that I’m an English major, I don’t know…).

It wasn’t a huge, sweeping move. But it takes great courage, I think, to go anywhere new, to separate yourself from what you’ve once known and who you once were.

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Dreams, Life, CareerAlyssa VottoFeaturedComment
How to Find Modern Day Magic
How to Find Modern Day Magic

“I can’t be a wizard; I’m just, I’m just Harry!” she quoted, with a bemused smile as she walked into another room. 

This was Madeline’s response when I asked her to provide a definition of magic. Now, before you read into Madeline’s response too deeply, I had better assure you that she is confident, hopeful and quite capable of becoming a wizard herself. So my analysis of this quoted statement and the following connection have really nothing to do with the quoter and more to do with society at large. Just so you can fully understand the context. 

So now, on to Harry. Harry’s very modest insistence that he cannot be a wizard can be seen in the parallel (and less modest) way adults claim to have outgrown magic. 

Growing up can be perhaps less lovely than we’d imagined as children, if we imagined it at all.

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LifeLaurel DicusFeaturedComment
Sometimes, It Ain't Pretty
Sometimes, It Ain't Pretty

A few weeks ago I had a co-worker kindly mention, “You only have a month or so left ‘til you are unemployed right?” My initial reaction was an eye roll and, “Gee, thanks for the reminder; it must have slipped my mind…” but what he said resonated within me and slowly the uncomfortable twinge from deep inside me started to sound the sirens.

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Career, LifeAlyssa RichardsonComment
Isolation Is More Powerful Than Community
Isolation Is More Powerful Than Community

If you would have told me a year ago that for my first job I would get to travel all across the United States for an organization I care so deeply about, I wouldn’t believe you. I desperately wanted to travel for a living, and I’m actually doing it! 

I travel with one suitcase and one carry on and visit a new city about every week. My elevator speech actually includes the line, “My office is my suitcase.” As I write, I’m realizing that my job is the real deal and I absolutely love it.

I also want to acknowledge that it’s a lonely job.

I get to meet absolutely amazing, inspiring women every day, but I only have one week to get to know them, then I’m off to a new city. I am around people all the time, but I am hardly, if ever, around people who know me... people who know my habits, my past and my passions--the friends who know that I am not a morning person and never will be and the mentors who see my strengths and appreciate that I am a competitive person.  

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Career, Life, RelationshipsArielle SchraderFeaturedComment
What You Should Know About Waiting
What You Should Know About Waiting

Over coffee one weekend, my friend poured out her thoughts in the vein of frustration with her first full-time gig after college. Her angst was stemming from the general discontent of routine and the initial feeling — 3 weeks in —that her job was meaningless and seemingly dead-end.

As I listened, I felt the ping of familiarity with these sentiments — feeling discontent with the present and frustration of waiting for the future.

She asked me, “How long does it take for this to go away?”

I couldn’t give her a concrete answer. What do I tell her? That this will all go away soon? At the end of the month? Year?

And there lies the root of our frustration: there’s no timeline.

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Career, Life, Dreams, RelationshipsJulie BloomFeatured, ArchiveComment