The H-Word

At some point or another we've all probably said "I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my life." I know I have been there and I have felt so lost when it comes to knowing what my next step is going to be. We place so much pressure on ourselves get the cool job, have the perfect relationship, get the best grades, or buy the new car. We worry about what others think and compare ourselves to the progress and accomplishments of others. My question to you though is, do we really need to "figure it out?" After graduating college I had no sense of direction in terms of what I wanted to do with my life. I felt as if I was failing to meet these deadlines I had made up in my head or I wasn't sticking to this imaginary schedule I was feeling pressured to follow. I was comparing myself to all my friends who had jobs and knew what they wanted to do when they graduated. But here's the thing: nobody has the same story as you and it doesn't matter wh...

People have been asking us what we want to be practically since we could talk. When you're little everyone lets you believe you can be whatever you want, no matter how ridiculous it may be. But as we get older reality sets in. People now have opinions about what we should or shouldn't do. They have ideas about what I would be good at or even not good at. And the worst part is they think they know best and we are foolish to disregard what they say. From what I can remember, I've always wanted to be a teacher. I think a lot of little kids want to be teachers at some point or another because of all the awesome teachers out there. I had some special teachers in my life growing up (that's you mom, dad, and nana). Of course they taught me everything, but they were also actually teachers.  I loved going to their schools and trying to help them as much as I could, even if that meant washing the chalk boards. When I was younger everyone thought it was cute that I wanted to ...

I'm sorry, I can't because I have to study. I'm sorry, I can't because I already have something else going on. I'm sorry, I can't go anymore, something came up. I'm sorry, I can't. I could not even begin to count the number of times these words have left my mouth or been typed by my fingers. It's not that I didn't want to go, either. It was that I genuinely, 100% felt like I couldn't go. I felt like I couldn't muster up the energy to get out of my bed and get ready to leave the house. I felt like I couldn't pretend like I was enjoying myself for hours. I felt like I couldn't go make conversations with people I didn't really know. Sometimes I even felt like I couldn't hang out with my best friends. Before I was diagnosed with depression, and even after, I was never the type of person that people would think is depressed. Not to say that there is a specific type of person that you look at think, "that person is depr...

Hey y'all! As my birthday is quickly approaching I thought it would be fun to write about some things I have learned over the years. It really hasn't hit me yet that it's almost my birthday. Normally I'm talking about it for weeks before it happens, but this time everyone else is reminding me it's almost my birthday. I'm really excited about this year because it's my "Taylor Swift year" aka I'm turning 22. Taylor Swift is my absolute favorite so I am thrilled to have a song to jam to for a whole year. Recently she did a piece with Elle Magazine about the 30 things she learned before her 30th birthday. I guess you could say she inspired me to write about the 22 things I have learned by 22. Say what you mean. There is no need to complicate things with lies and miscommunication. "Say what you mean and mean what you say" -Dr. Seuss  Hang out with your family. Your family brought you into this world and nurtured you into the person...

Okay y'all, here it is: College sucks a lot sometimes. Some of you may be thinking, "doesn't she mean four years?" I graduated college in three years because I got my full associate's degree when I was in high school. I really should have graduated in two and a half years, but because I was a chemistry major some of my classes were only offered in the spring. Going the full third year gave me the opportunity to live with some of my best friends in a dorm with a Starbucks in the first floor, work some more with my favorite lab partner, and take some classes just for the heck of it. Almost anyone you ask will tell you something along the lines of how college will be the best years of your life. But from my experience, I would never tell anyone that. Of course I had those conversations when visiting home "Hailey, how's college?" "Oh, it's good!" And I usually didn't say much else past that. Don't get me wrong, I loved my scho...