These past two months were the craziest (and probably most fun) months of my life! Clearly I let the busy-ness get the best of me, but I'll hopefully get to sharing more on the end of my semester in the coming weeks! For now, I'll just share some photos from graduation and a little bit of a life update if you will at the end of the post :)
Happy happy happy girl who is now a college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Marine Affairs from the University of Miami! Humbled and thankful to have graduated Cum Laude and earned my degree in just 3 years. When I was just 9 years old, I told my parents I wanted to be a Miami Hurricane and study Marine Biology... 12 years later I'm a Miami ALUMNI! Like whaaaat??? My college years really changed me, ask anyone. The summer before leaving for school, a part of me didn't even want to leave. My father had just been diagnosed with cancer which made my freshman year very atypical. I was so quiet and came home a lot. I had about 3 friends, never went out, and stayed in my dorm all weekend studying. Actually, this blog is a byproduct of how little of a social life I had back then. But, in the end I am so thankful my parents pushed me that summer when I didn't even want to leave home. Fast forward to sophomore and junior/senior year, I came out of my shell and made amazing friends and amazing memories to match! Pretty much crammed 4 years of classic "college life" into 2... and don't feel like I missed a thing!
Completing my degree and getting through my college years would not have been possible without my amazing parents, my family and friends who supported and encouraged me every step of the way. And of course, thanks to the Lord. Leaning on Him got me through that first hard year and I wish I could say my relationship with the Lord was stronger in the last two, but I know He was always there walking with me even when I wandered.
So filled with joy seeing me hard work come to fruition with graduation! All those scientific literature review papers, sleepless nights studying or writing, and hours spent reading article after article or book chapter after book chapter were worth it. It truly is great to be a Miami Hurricane!
So now for that life update I promised. What's next you may ask? Well, I'm beyond thankful to have been given the opportunity to spend the next three months in Jacksonville continuing oyster fisheries research and management I began last summer! I realize some college grads wait months for their first job, so I'm so excited to have been given an offer to go back to Jacksonville and continue to do something I love. Sad to say goodbye to Miami and all the beautiful friends I won't live so close to anymore, but excited to start "real life" and see what the Lord has in store for me!
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."