December is a month of anniversaries for me. It marks the anniversary since getting scoliosis surgery in 2002, graduating college in 2013, and launching the Twentysomething Vision blog in 2015. It’s officially been FIVE YEARS since I graduated college. WOW! And it’s almost been 10 years since I graduated high school! I can believe that because I feel very far removed from high school, but it still feels weird thinking about it.
Five years after graduating college
Each year after college was a year of learning. 2014 landed my first job post-college where I learned to socialize with all different age groups. 2015 felt stagnant and foggy with little social life, but I learned to create my own opportunities to grow. 2016 marked a time of building new friendships and getting back in touch with people.
2017 allowed me to grow as a professional writer and editor post-college, to land my first consistent freelance position, and to learn about running my own business. 2018 flew by with many late nights and early mornings keeping up with photo editing, content editing, and other ventures.
While each year represented something new in my life, I’ve rounded up five most memorable moments since graduating college.
1) Traveled through 18 states by car and 4 countries by plane.
Throughout the last 3 years, my family and I visited A LOT of states by taking road trips. I’d take vacation time off from work, and they designate days they can take off from their own business.
We’ve traveled throughout the northeast, mideast, and southeast. If I had to pick just one place that was my favorite…I’d have to choose Kentucky, which we visited this past February. That was the first time my stepmom and I both saw snow.
We saw the life-sized Noah’s Ark, visited some great shows and museums, and I did a lot of self-reflecting on that trip. My photography businesses was inspired by – and born after – that trip.
As far as visiting 4 countries goes…I visited Cambodia with my family in 2017. My stepmom is originally from Cambodia, and my dad had already visited many times. That was my first time visiting the country.
It was an amazing trip, a humbling experience, and a fantastic adventure. We flew from Florida to California to South Korea to Cambodia on the way there. On the way home, we flew from Cambodia to Japan to Washington, DC to Florida. Talk about time travel!
2) Launched Twentysomething Vision + Sunshine Photography.
WOW were both of those scary. I launched the Twentysomething Vision blog at the very end of December 2015. Once I published my first blog post, there was no turning back. The blog pushed me to keep a living portfolio going so I could get back to doing what I love – writing and editing content.
Once the blog was stable and I had plenty of writing samples long after graduating college, I launched my web services. I write, edit, update websites, and more. I’m pretty much a digital nerd.
Acquaintances and clients have shared their personal stories with me, and I’m grateful for the bonds we’ve formed. It only felt natural to launch a photography business as my next venture. Alas, Sunshine Photography was born after returning home from our Kentucky road trip.
I haven’t been crazy about the business aspect of photography. I REALLY don’t like sales, BUT I love giving people amazing photographs they can cherish forever. Families being goofy together, pets running around, and business owners showcasing their craft makes it all worth it.
3) Performed at a local open mic – twice.
In college, I performed a few small open mics on campus with friends. I always performed a duet because I was never brave enough to perform on my own.
The first time I performed (outside of middle school when I first learned to play guitar) was my first semester of freshman year of college. I wrote a parody of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” for my wellness class as a final presentation. I performed it with a partner, and “You Should Eat Healthy” was a huge hit.
The next time, sophomore year, I wrote another parody, this time for a sociology class presentation. I wrote the lyrics – “It’ll All Get Paid,” a parody of Bruno Mars’s hit “Grenade” – and performed the song with a friend. I performed a small open mic with my then-boyfriend later that same year. He played ukulele while I played guitar for Never Shout Never’s “Happy” (and an encore performance of “You Should Eat Healthy”). And then I sang another duet with a friend junior year, “You and I” by Ingrid Michaelson and Dan Romer.
Finally, senior year, a music major friend approached me to perform in the school talent show, “Southern’s Got Talent.” Holy moly was that scary at first. We practiced the song “Falling Slowly” from the musical “Once” like it was nobody’s business. We had two live rehearsals – one where my hands were shaking and I could barely play and sing. I was petrified on stage, even in front of just 20 people. The second rehearsal went over much smoother. And then…we won third place overall in the entire show! Our mics gave off some ear-itating feedback during the show (get it?), but we just smiled and kept playing. We were ecstatic.
2018 Open Mic Performances
Fast-forward to this year, five years after graduating college, I performed Maroon 5’s “Misery” and my own acoustic rendition of Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake” at a local open mic where it was a safe and non-judgmental environment. It felt amazing. I felt like I could do anything after getting up on stage by myself and performing. People clapped to the beat, nodded their heads. They were into it! The most exhilarating thing about performing on stage is counting on myself to just do it. If I mess up, no one will really know unless I make it obvious. But if I rock it, everyone will see it, hear it, and feel it. Music is meant to be shared, played out loud, and not just cooped up in some headphones.
The next month I performed for a second time at the same location. I played guitar and sang Michael Buble’s rendition of “Feeling Good.” Then…it was a cappella time (my first ever). I sang Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” opening it with a cheesy line: “I’m a little person, and this is a big song. So, we’ll see how this goes.”
I sang my own version of the song – in no way was I trying to be or sound like Adele. No way! But again, the whole crowd got into it, clapping to give me a beat, and the employees at the reception desk nearby stared and smiled, not believing what was going on.
I forgot the lyrics once I got to the bridge of the song…I was so close! But one of the audience members encouraged me to “Take it home with the chorus!”
4) Sorted through the excess to hold onto what’s important.
Sifting throughout excess factors includes friends, clients, material things, and activities. Some friends have been there for me throughout the years, while others have fallen through. It’s life; people get busy, they live their own lives, and they distance themselves. Especially after graduating college, it’s understandable that circumstances change.
Since then, I’ve held onto the friends that matter most and carry the qualities I find important: a good listener, someone who makes an equal effort in the friendship, and someone who is reliable.
The same goes with the excess material things in my life. Minimalism is something I strive for, something I struggle with, and something I continue to work towards since graduating college. It’s all about spending time with important people, spending money on experiences (not as many things), and getting rid of physical and mental clutter.
5) Admitted I still have a lot to learn.
Although I have all these experiences under my belt after graduating college, I know I’m never finished learning. There’s always something in life, in books, in work for us to improve and to learn from. If I thought I knew everything, I’d be wrong!
My family teaches me so much, and I’m always learning from new experiences. I’m looking forward to next year’s learning opportunities.