REFLECTIONS ON 19. (BY NILE FROM UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND)
Today is my birthday. I can't believe I'm no longer a teenager. It seems like just yesterday I had my Sweet 16 birthday party, and now I can officially tell people "I'm in my 20s."
The past few years have been incredibly transformative. Each semester of college has taught me something completely different about myself, and if you read Nerdy Naturals regularly, you've been on the journey with me.
To mark the end of a chapter of my life, and the beginning of a new one, I thought it would be cool (and potentially helpful for someone) if I shared some reflections from 19.
I had to learn to stop doubting myself.
Throughout life, your goals and plans are going to constantly change; especially in college. I came into college thinking I was going to go down one career path, and I completely changed my focus during sophomore year.
When I was looking for internships for Summer 2018, I knew I wanted to do an international affairs internship, but I felt like I wouldn't be good enough or qualified to get an internship in that field. I thought that because I wasn't a government major, a history major or an international relations major that I couldn't do it.
With motivation from the amazing people in my life, I went and applied for those internships anyway, and I landed an awesome international affairs internship in Washington, D.C. The internship was life-changing and helped me to confirm what I want to do with my life.
I had an unforgettable start to 2019. I had the opportunity to visit London for a month (and even see Paris for a weekend). During my last week in London, I participated in an International Study Visit (ISV) with the British Council where I visited communities in London and shadowed organizations to see the work they did in different communities.
The past few years have been incredibly transformative. Each semester of college has taught me something completely different about myself, and if you read Nerdy Naturals regularly, you've been on the journey with me.
To mark the end of a chapter of my life, and the beginning of a new one, I thought it would be cool (and potentially helpful for someone) if I shared some reflections from 19.
I had to learn to stop doubting myself.
Throughout life, your goals and plans are going to constantly change; especially in college. I came into college thinking I was going to go down one career path, and I completely changed my focus during sophomore year.
When I was looking for internships for Summer 2018, I knew I wanted to do an international affairs internship, but I felt like I wouldn't be good enough or qualified to get an internship in that field. I thought that because I wasn't a government major, a history major or an international relations major that I couldn't do it.
With motivation from the amazing people in my life, I went and applied for those internships anyway, and I landed an awesome international affairs internship in Washington, D.C. The internship was life-changing and helped me to confirm what I want to do with my life.
Sharing your story can help someone else.
And vice-versa. In my piece from November about self-love, I openly talked about my anxiety attack that I had this past summer. I dealt with the worst anxiety attack I had in a while, and I didn't know how to handle it on my own.
Thankfully, I have family and friends I can be transparent with about my anxiety, and they help me to find coping mechanisms and they allow me space to vent. Also, my family members and friends would open up about their own anxiety. By talking about my anxiety with people in my life, I found that I wasn't alone.
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| Source: Google Images |
Also, I found that using Nerdy Naturals as a platform to share stories has been incredibly helpful for not only the people who read our work, but also for our contributors.
Share your story; you never know who it will inspire.
Wearing a nice outfit can really make your day better.
As crazy is it sounds, wearing a cute outfit can really make a difference. In college, it can be hard sometimes to get out of bed and actually put effort into an outfit before a super early class, but even if you put on a nice outfit once or twice a week, you can feel ready to take on the world.
I grew up in a fashion family; both of my parents went to school for fashion and my mom was a professional model, and they always stressed the importance of how clothes make you feel.
I started putting a little more effort into my outfits this semester because it makes me feel good. Like even if I'm having a bad day, at least my outfit is cute. Lol.— Nile ✨ (@NaturallyNi) November 27, 2017
Freshman year I usually wore jeans, sweatpants, sneakers and a plain top. I was way too lazy to put effort into my outfits, but as time went on, I realized that I felt so much happier and more confident when I had on a cute outfit.
Every day won't be perfect, but try to find something good in every day.
I know it's hard to be positive all the time. We're human; everyday isn't perfect. We have good and bad days, and some days are in-between.
Something that helps me when I'm having a bad day is to focus on the good things that may have happened that day, or see what I can do to try to make things better.
I didn't do well on a test that I thought I got an A on? Okay, well at least I got myself organized today so that I can be in better position to do well next time. I'll also see if I can go to office hours.
But it's also okay to not be okay. If you need to just be alone for the rest of the day and listen to music, cook or read, do what's best for you. Do what makes you happy.
Dream big.
This sounds cliche, but it didn't make sense to me until recently. If you would've told me when I started college that I would be traveling the world on my own, doing business pitches and that Nerdy Naturals would become an international initiative, I would've thought you were crazy.
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| Me in Paris. |
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| Me near the Tower Bridge in London. |
I had the opportunity to connect with people from around the world, I was able to share my Social Action Project (SAP), which is Nerdy Naturals because we're a platform committed to promoting literacy, confidence and self-expression in high-school and college-aged young women. Five years ago when I started Nerdy Naturals at age 14, I never would've thought it could be an international initiative or a way to address issues that affect young women, but now I know that a girl can dream big.
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| Me explaining how creativity and innovation can be used to build community. |
I can't believe I'm 20.
If you're in your 20s, what did your teenage years teach you? Let me know by tweeting me @NaturallyNi or @NerdyNaturals01. Don't forget to click the "Subscribe" button in the top right corner to keep up with Nerdy Naturals.
Nile is the founder of Nerdy Naturals. She is a junior Communication major with a minor in Chinese. In her free time she enjoys dancing, drinking coffee, jogging and reading. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and email nerdynaturals@gmail.com to be a Nerdy Naturals contributor.
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