As September rounds off to an end (congrats, everyone!), I’ve finally gotten into the full swing of my routine. I’ve rediscovered the study spaces where I feel the elusive productivity-Zen balance and I’ve relearned how to juggle numerous roles each day, every day.

Being a senior exponentially increases the occurrences in which I realize just how amazing it is to be at Scripps. Living my last year of college has made me continuously  visualize and grasp just how many resources and opportunities we have access to here. (On a more superficial note, seriously, how much would a membership to a gym the quality of the Field House cost?). Thinking about the future has made me reflect upon the recent past. A lot new experiences and firsts have happened since my first year at Scripps. How can I draw upon these past experiences of newness in order to prepare to new future settings? How will I transition after leaving Scripps, becoming a small fish in a big pond again?

The last time I was a small fish in a big pond was during my internship this past summer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (Side note, they recently announced Kendrick Lamar will be performing with the National Symphony Orchestra! I’m very jealous that that didn’t happen while I was there…). This was my first structured 9 to 5 job, commuting across downtown with the rest of the daily grind, clutching my coffee for dear life, and still managing to look somewhat presentable after 45-minutes of the DC metro and walks to and from stations through thick humidity. My most “typical intern” moment happened on the first day when I tried to walk past the security guard just to find the bathroom only to get very much called out. Definitely a small fish move.

I could have been anywhere, any a new city, new job experience, new living situation (leases and rents are stressful). I was once again a small fish in a small pond.

Planning new chapters of life is scary, but I find it helpful to remind myself that I am setting a plan for success. There is no guarantee for success, but if there’s no plan, well then that’s definitely not a guarantee for success. New experiences accumulate and become frameworks of how we handle change. I’ve been able to say to myself “I’ve done this before.” The newness is novel, but not always unfamiliar. I’ve grown to handle the newness with confidence and flexibility.  Any new beginning illustrates our ability to learn, adapt, and adjust; your first college class, your first senior thesis colloquium, your first on-campus job or summer internship, your first application for a post-grad opportunity, your first time abroad. It is a matter of point of view, retrospective as well as forward facing. If I let apprehension or worry about what might go wrong prevent me from planning or trying, I may have never have those journeys of what it is like to become a big fish swimming towards an even bigger pond.