The Trajectory

As I sit in my bedroom, fifth day in a row since getting home from college, family having the rona, all I can dream about is where this next year is going to take me.

I've studied each and every Indy Blue, Kenna & Jack and Emily in Paris travel video and episode there is to watch. Europe and Hawaii circulate my mental radar and I pray and pray and pray that my visa, new passport holder, chic black boots, three vaccinations and many notebooks with pages saved for documenting these adventures will be put to good use going into the new year. That's the plan, and we're staying hopeful.

That brings me to this past semester. So much went on. At the beginning, I thought to myself, 'If I wrote down the stories from every weekend, I could make the big bucks off of this.' Now, I don't know if I'd take it that far, but some crazy stuff went on.

I lived in my first apartment. It was a tiny, studio apartment that I shared with one roommate. But our exposed brick wall, hanging lights, and endless 'fancy pasta' nights and New Girl episodes and little gatherings LOL with all of our friends and our Jack-O-Lantern solo cups for Halloween and morning coffees and our party drawer, made it everything 20-year-old Parker could've dreamt of.

Monday through Wednesday, if all went as planned, I was up at 7 a.m. out the door to the gym, and I'd come back, get my Keurig up and running, make my berry, banana, spinach and peanut butter smoothie and sip it while reading Lauren Akins' book under the big bulb soft lights with my 'Oatmilk Lattes in The Mountains' playlist on shuffle. Then I'd take to the shower, which I longed for when I was back on Long Island for breaks (a sign that Ithaca was home in my book) and rush to get ready and out the door, this soundtrack to this being a revolving loop of All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version).

Then, I'd take my speedy walk to the Study Abroad office, producing sweat under my winter jacket in the sometimes 28 degree, other times 60 degree temperatures of an Ithaca fall.

This was one of my new jobs this semester, working as an office assistant/social media manager for this office. And it was truly ideal. I had no idea, sitting on the wicker couch of our South Carolina rental condo this summer, that spontaneously applying to work in this office would allow me to do what I always dreamt of, write about travel and get paid for it.

Granted I wasn't doing the travel, I got to talk to all of the students abroad and share their experiences. However, being that I'm taking this show on the road to Barcelona next semester, my second day in the office, my boss who had known of my study abroad plans from our previous meetings, proposed that I continued writing for them and getting paid for it once I was abroad, A LITERAL DREAM.

I also worked at the Fitness Center at school this semester, and while that had a completely different vibe, it was everything I was looking for. I met a group of people that I most likely would have never encountered otherwise at school, being in a bubble of communications majors, but it was so great. We hung out, I saw them at parties and we would spend our shifts catching up on previous weekends and sharing our plans for break, and it was just the quintessential co-worker relationship that every 20-something craves.

Now, this brings me to outside of work and school, I'll talk about the school part a little later. We had the beloved club tennis team that I will return to every semester, year after year, and love more than the last. Radio, which I started last year and have come to appreciate more than I can tell you. That one is funny to think about because never in a million years, when we'd be listening to 97.5 fm driving to the middle school, tuning into the morning talk show, did I think I would be DJing for my local college station, but I love it so much. This semester, I also joined an intramural volleyball team, super fun, our Alumni Student association, kept up with the running with my favorite running buddy (for the most part), wrote some stuff here and there for different things on campus and interned for Behind The Hedges, the Long Island based Real Estate publication.

One of the really special things that I got involved in, was Evensong. This was a weekly, Wednesday night event, run by our Lighthouse organization, that basically is a non-denomination Christian group on campus, and every week at Evensong, we would listen and sing along to worship songs.

This semester, I think was a bit of a turning point for me spiritually. I remember, earlier on, reading Lauren Akins' book that I referenced before, about the power of god in her life and just really considering how being more open to God could impact my life. Growing up, my family frequently attended church and my brother was an alter server. I have always really admired my little brother, but his love for church and God and his connection with all that was something I could never really grasp but always wanted to.

Then, freshman year, I met a friend at college (you know who you are dawg) who grew up very religious and I wanted to know everything about his upbringing, and what he thought about it now. He taught me more and more, and always offered to help me get more in touch with my spiritual side by going to church with me. But, it wasn't until I had a conversation about committing to things with my mom, read this book which really felt like a sign that now was the time and made another friend who really encouraged me to go for it, that I decided to give church, and God a try.

And what I'll say about that, is that God and Evensong are two things that I really leaned on this year. I found myself returning again and again to the two and they time and time again provided me with clarity, security and hope. And I am eternally grateful to the people who pushed me to push myself in that area.

On a little bit lighter of a note, my classes this semester gave me the chance to tap into my creative journalistic side, writing a long form narrative story, creating a startup based on travel and totally connecting in ways that I had never before seen possible with people in my major.

On the social side of college, this semester, there was just so much. I'm grateful, really grateful.

Moving forward, I'm excited to see where life takes me. I feel like I learned a lot this year. On one of my last days in Ithaca, I was taking to one of my best friends and we were talking about how we've changed but really, we're the same people we've always been.

It's sometimes hard growing up and thinking about whether what I'm doing is right or wrong. I think that each part of what goes on, is part of the process. But yeah, the tangible change I saw this semester, I hope to take forward with me, to remind myself that whatever I want to be, is totally in my control.

There is so much more to all of this. I did some traveling this semester, Boston, Punta Gorda, we made it to some concerts, Thomas Rhett, Gov Ball with Post Malone (my new love) and Harry Styles. And just a million other really fun things. It's super challenging to get down all your thoughts about an entire semester in a blog post, but this is the big stuff.

Back to what I'm dreaming about though, LOL. What'd I'd love for next semester, is to be in my little apartment in Barcelona, sipping my wine, writing my stories for you, right here, sitting at my desk, eyes set on the city. There's so much potential, and I'm dead set on continuing to grow.

I love you guys so much, those of you that continue to read my writing and those who stop by occasionally. Maybe we'll take this to a greater scale? Who knows?