There were a lot of unknowns, a lot of firsts, and a lot of different zip codes. But overall it was an eventful and productive year.
The very first thing I did in 2014 was to strive to be the best I could be in the upcoming year... and to get an internship. I had a lot of ambiguous adjectives and verbs which seemed very motivational, but that's not new. They did however get me into a great mindset for the year to come. For me, 2013 was half-terrible and half-okay so I was ready to have a much better year, and I think I did. I started off strong by being productive in my first month mostly because my winter break was painfully long. I was able to revamp my resume, portfolio, and website, become LEED certified, and managed to read a bit and watch some movies. Did I ever mention I also got another tattoo?
February comes and goes far too quickly, and it was relatively uneventful. I had a snow day and a good feeling about my courses in the spring semester. I also complained about being a hot mess, but that just means I was busy and if you know me well enough you probably know I'm terrible at multi-tasking and have to finish one task before I can even think about starting another.
I honestly can't recall exactly what I experienced, but I had one of many 'awakanings' this year in March when I realized all that is wrong with the education system today. At this time every year I have a tendency to feel a bit wanderlust, but this past year I began to understand that it has more to do with learning from the immediate world with an educated perspective, rather than blindly following that of another.
In April the frosty winter weather was finally lifted and I was able to enjoy the sun for a change. It also marked the building of the annual CANstruction, which I run for the School of Architecture. It was a fantastic year for our team, winning several awards and eventually was runner-up for International Community Favorite Award. I also joined twitter at some point this past spring (mostly because I wanted to see what Maggie was saying about me on the one social media platform I wasn't on) but it also led to some interesting conversations with social theorists who I was supposed to interview for a class. This was also another 'awakening' of sorts, in which I realized at some level humans are really all the same. I also realized that there were no needs for inhibitions when it comes to interactions with people on social media.
Up until the end of May I was applying for summer internships - I just really needed to get a job in the field of architecture. After contacting over 50 firms, I literally fell into a position... in Colorado.
Thus begins my adventure.
June brought about a lot of new experiences. I was in a new state, working a job pertinent to my schooling, and doing adult stuff. Once I finally got used to the area and stopped getting lost all the time, I really felt like less of a stranger to the area. But of course, I was, so I explored as much as I could. I tried to hit as many landmarks and cities as possible on my weekends off. I had another 'awakening' after seeing an 80's cover band in regards to the magnitude of change that I had experienced in such a short amount of change. I really urge everyone to break out of their comfort zones and go somewhere new and do something different, if only to have the experience of it all. I also realized so much of the way I approached the experience was with the knowledge of only being there for a short period of time. This, I regret. Mainly because my (only) co-worker and his wife were really awesome and even though I wanted to spend more time with them, I felt strange about it, knowing I would be leaving again shortly.
Completely unrelated, I wasted time making my own iced coffee.
July was a roller coaster. I literally saved someones life in a swift water drowning accident and that is not something I will ever forget. I also got to see Shelby and Maggie a few weeks later and it was probably one of the best weekends of my summer. I still find it so amazing that as bloggers we found other people that we get along with so well, online and in real life. It made me really excited for Portland 2015! Hopefully my summer job will be located in the Pacific Northwest and I can attend the blogger meetup there.
The rest of the summer was me finishing up my job, driving from Colorado to Washington, and then almost immediately flying back to New York for school. My family did manage to get together all together for a brief second before we all went our separate ways again, but this is to be expected.
This past semester of school had one of the, if not the, hardest studio design course that is in our curriculum. Somehow I managed to go on several weekend trips. For a class I went to Boston (Cambridge to be specific) and fell in love with the area. I also went up to Toronto for an art festival that one of my professors was showing an installation piece at. Both trips were not only really great breaks from the dreariness that is Troy, New York, but they were both really good learning experiences; seeing cities, the buildings, art, and everything else that comes with traveling. The last of my trips was an extended weekend in New York City which confirmed my infatuation with the city.
Thanksgiving (or should I say, Friendsgiving) came and went a little too quickly, but soon enough it was finals week and then I was back in Seattle. At some point I turned 22 but that's really not too exciting.
In 2014 I ate my first macaroon, drove 1500 miles by myself, worked in an architects office and bettered my cooking skills. I took more photographs, stayed productive, got a tweet published in Dwell magazine, and traveled a lot. I must say, in retrospect it was a pretty good year.
You had a tweet published in a magazine??? HOW DID I MISS THIS.
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