A New Year, A New Beginning

Hello All,

It's been a few months since my last entry and I find it rather futile and quite frankly exhausting to begin to recount everything that has happened to me since October. In effort to catch everyone up to speed, and to appease my tired mind, I have decided to compromise and give you a brief synopsis of what my life has been like for the past four months.

First of let me to say to all my readers that taking 19 credits is never a decision any sane person should make. Although a fully capable, and resourceful student, I found it incredibly difficult to survive on the pressure of so many credits. Because of my work load, much of my life suffered, including my health in a number of ways. Although most of these such problems have resolved themselves, it still amazes me how much stress can really impact not only your mind but also your entire body. I have battled with pressure before and constant worry, but not in the same level I experienced rather recently. Although there are parts of my semester that of course are recognized as enjoyable, most of my fall semester was wasted on my inability to see through my stress. My clouded mind was focused on an unattainable goal of achieving a perfect GPA.

Looking back now I can see how utterly obsessed I was about achieving this goal. I forgot what it felt like to have fun, to enjoy life and was in a vicious cycle. Writing about my experiences help me realize that this cycle is over now and also hopefully will help me to somehow avoid this pattern of behavior. As a side note, I did not achieve the 4.0 I wanted to, but managed to maintain a sizable GPA which I am proud to have achieved especially with the rigor of my coursework.

So what's different about this new year? What is different about this semester, you may be asking yourselves? Well for one thing I am only taking 12 credits, and currently do not have a job. This means that I have so much more free time to do the things that I have always wanted to do. I have to admit that the past two weeks have been rather unproductive, however I hope to finally learn how to properly play guitar. In addition I hope to work on my novel a bit more and of course update this blog more than ever four months. Most importantly though, this semester is about me. I am not going to do anything that I do not want to do. And yes you may be thinking homework is a chore, however my classes are extremely interesting and I no longer dread the piles of pages I need to read.

This new Emilie is the one that lived in London and traveled abroad. The new Emilie is the one who became obsessed with the mountains of Colorado and brought you her exciting stories about all the hikes she endured. This new Emilie is poised, confident, independent, and ready to enter the world of anti-stress. She is ready to take on new hobbies, and finally enjoy life like it's supposed to be enjoyed. She has already done so today by taking part in the school wide snowball fight as well as frolicing in the record snowfall here in Maryland. This new Emilie is not entirely new but she's put on a shiny new coat and has been checked for malfunctions. Here's to me doing what I want, and getting what I deserve, some much needed rest and relaxation!