This semester I have come to believe in speaking things into existence. I think when you say “I’m going to do __” and you believe hard enough in it that you will achieve that. When I was in high school, I told myself that I would make my college experience my own. I worked hard enough to go to a school out of state and in an area that I didn’t have any friends from home. Now I’m living that dream that 15 year old me was praying about.

I knew plenty of people who went to study abroad and I couldn’t wait to do that once I got into college and funny enough next semester I will be in Europe. 

There are plenty of things that if you tell yourself that you want it, you can achieve it. 

Don’t fool yourself that just wishing for something is going to get you whatever you want. Are you putting in the work to make that dream a reality? Are you putting in the hours needed to get those goals? Dreams aren’t cheap. They take hard work and might not be as sweet as you think they are. 

In order to study abroad, I have been working during the summer and school semester just to make my trips comfortable enough for my family to afford and I want to be able to tell people that I was able to fund my study abroad. I will be honest, it’s a little exhausting because up until that point I didn’t really understand what it was like to work for your money. I never had a goal to work for and now that I do, I get really greedy and find myself working really weird hours that aren’t healthy for me and I justify that by saying “this will pay for a trip to Spain when I’m abroad” or “when I’m in Greece I’ll thank myself for this”. 

I was talking to my close friend Hanah, and as a recent college graduate, she advised me by telling me once you start working a 9-5 your perspective on working changes. You are working to provide for yourself and/or pay for student loans. She was reminding me even the fact that I am working to enjoy vacation and enhance my experience abroad is a gift. In college, there are students who have to work to pay their tuition and to them this thought process might seem ridiculous, but for someone like me who was privileged enough to not have to think about that, it’s hard. I have to calculate what’s worth it to me. One experience now, or an experience that I have imagined (that might not even be that great). I’ve been struggling with that balance this semester. 

I thought this was my semester to invest into future adventures and work. I am only able to think like this because I was able to do a lot of traveling last year. I got to go to New York 3 times, Philadelphia for Labor Day, and took a day trip to Annapolis with a friend. While all my friends were working hard to find jobs and making money, I was playing. Now that I am working, I find myself falling into the vicitim mentality because they are having fun now. That’s not true at all. I’ve been trying to see God timing in all of this and yes, it’s undeniably perfect.

College is all about figuring yourself out. I’m trying to see what is important to me. I am in no way financially literate and I am still getting a lot of support from my parents, but I know that I want to figure out the way I spend my money before I HAVE to become financially independent. 

My biggest advice at this point is don’t compare your finances or you experiences to other people’s. You might not have the same income as other people, they might prioritize other things than you. If you have time to think about what other people are doing, you’re wasting your time on energy that could be going back to you.

This was a long winded way of saying I am working a lot. I hope studying abroad is going to be worthwhile and money is hard.

Wake up and get to work.

Work hard so you can play harder. I’m with you.

JLee