During my weekend up in Burlington, there were many great talks and realizations that I wanted to shortly highlight in a post now that I am back. The first thing that I am grateful for is my friends that are female. Having so many women that are friends up at UVM is just such a different dynamic from my guy friend group back home, yet just as amazing. Spending the weekend with Lia, Montana, and Noel felt like I had three sisters to share laughs and crack jokes with. It also for me just shows how far I have come with having friends that are female. When I was in high school, it was hard for me to talk to girls and I never thought of having a platonic friendship that was super close with a woman. Now, I have so many great female friendships where they push me to be the best person I can be. Lia, Montana, and Noel are just some of many who I can have so much fun with and create lasting memories.
The next realization was this drastic switch to adulting and having to adapt to a whole different lifestyle. Living off-campus is a whole different experience where you now have to make every meal for yourself, you don’t have to go up to campus if you don’t want to see it, and you are living in a house with roommates. This quick transition this weekend where I was living on Bradley Street in a house was a crazy realization for me. It felt like I had to be an adult now where on campus, I could still be a young kid.
One comment that was made during our trip was about my outgoing personality. Do I feel I need to be outgoing because I am an only child? How are you so outgoing? For me, this realization helps confirm this idea of goal-setting and manifestation. My personality never used to be outgoing. When I was younger, I was actually shy and really observant, taking in my surroundings and people-watching with my mouth open. One of my long-term goals when going to college was to be the person I knew I was inside. I felt confident in the person I had become in high school and I wanted that to shine. As a result, I made a conscious decision to not hold back…to be my genuine self unapologetically, to reach out and say hi to people, to always push to make new and more friends. As a result, this constant practice of saying hi to people and using the 10 seconds of courage rule (next post explaining this theory) led to my personality being more outgoing even though I am introverted at heart. This idea of constant practice and manifestation has led to me forming many amazing relationships and having great conversations with people that never would occur if I didn’t say something. If there is something that you want to come to, manifest it, make it a goal, and commit to actively doing it. Also, everyone in life should be unapologetically themselves as it leads to humans being able to understand humans much easier.
Finally, the last reflection that I had was how essential and crucial laughter is in a happy life. Being able to reconnect with friends and just have the ability to genuinely laugh felt so good and reestablished connections that were always there but had drifted a bit. Laughter is medicine and having laughter be a common denominator in a relationship makes that connection so much more meaningful. Overall, another successful and great trip up to Burlington! That place has formed a very special place in my heart and I am stoked to return next semester.
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