august slipped away into a moment in time

Hi. Hello there. It's been awhile.

I hope that everyone reading this is safe and well, and that their families are healthy. Quite a lot has happened since I updated the good ol' blog.

Because of COVID-19, my senior year at Carolina was cut short (during my spring break actually - I'm so glad I got to travel before all of this happened!). I am a person who treasures small moments and who is very intent on saying goodbye and savoring lasts, so not having the option to do that was very difficult for me. There were a lot of days throughout March and April where I would just get back in bed because I didn't feel like doing anything. That being said, I did graduate!

My last issue of Coulture came out right before graduation, featuring my piece "How College Changed Me," which, except for a few edits, I wrote before COVID took over the world. Check it out on page 83 (spread 84-85).

I was able to be a bridesmaid in two close friends' weddings and had more fun than I've had in months. I do feel (somewhat) at peace with college being over - I'm just excited to begin the next phase of life!

Since March, my freelancing portfolio has expanded, and I have had some pretty cool opportunities - even from my bedroom!

• I got to interview Drew Starkey and Rudy Pankow from Netflix's Outer Banks (!!!) about their involvement in the show and why they think themes of family and the nature of reality are important messages for young people today. I also interviewed some friends from high school, so it was awesome to have the perspectives of two people from the show, and two people who live here.

I have been writing a lot for this publication, Coastal Review, and I've been able to report

on things that I wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to write about. I also interviewed

two random people on the street. I've been in some dangerous places, and I've

almost gotten stranded alone in Germany, but for some reason random interviews were

TERRIFYING to me.

• This month, I began freelancing for BuzzFeed (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and published my first piece for them. It went trending the first half hour it was published, and thousands of people around the world have read about great Walmart bathroom products.

• I also published a quiz to find out which movie genre your life falls under, and turned Taylor Swift's latest album folklore into a jukebox musical.

I was looking at my list of goals from the beginning of the year, and realized that I've done two of them - "graduate from college" and "get published on a big website." I'm still holding out for "move to New York" and "get a job to support myself," and I'm excited to see the way that Jesus answers those.

I've been applying to lots of jobs (68 since January!) and keeping up my network, so hopefully that pays off before the end of the year.

I know that this year has been hard, but we are truly in this together. Maybe tomorrow will be kinder.