My second year at the University of Cincinnati went on, but unfortunately some hitches came up along the way. This past year I was ready to hit the ground running, correction, I was ready to hit the ground sprinting until I could not run any longer. Over the summer I was applying to co-ops for my cooperative education rotation. I received an offer before fall semester even started, and I accepted, so I was set for the spring semester. (More details in co-op experiences.) I moved into a house off campus and moved in everything early so it was all set up when everyone else got there. I was giving honors orientation presentations for incoming freshman, and I was killing the game with honors ambassador leadership duties. I also signed up to be the secretary for Architectural Engineering Institute because no one else wanted the job even though I was already accepted as a pledge sergeant for Pershing Rifles and vice commander of Cincinnati’s Arnold Air Society Squadron. I thought I would be able to handle all of these responsibilities because I was able to handle taking 23 credit hours the previous semester. However, I was sorely mistaken.

     I was able to accomplish a ton in the first month of the semester and had no worries about the rest of the semester. However, classes got much more difficult than expected, and ROTC duties picked up, so my sleep started slacking and everything seemed to fall apart. I was not attending required meetings because I was sleeping through them, or my communication was diminishing with people that were relying on me to complete tasks. I felt like a complete failure. Even the duties I was completing were not up to par with how I wanted them, so this made me feel even worse. I was not traveling home so I was a little homesick and missing my family which was 5 hours away. This was all supposed to change my birthday weekend when my family came into town. I was going to have fun with my friends at a football game and then have birthday dinner with everyone. I did this, and then we planned for my family and I to go to breakfast alone. Instead, my parents sat us down and out of the blue they stated that they were getting a divorce, and my father was permanently moving out to Wyoming. I was destroyed, and my life felt like it was completely falling apart.

     My experiences throughout this whole semester really made me take a step back and really consider what I want to do with my life. I found that I really do not know what I want to do in the future or what my true aspirations are. My goals for the years to come are to really find myself and find what I like to do and not what others want me to do. This was a very transformative year for me and I cannot wait to show how I’ve grown in the next year.