Before we get too far into the new year I want to reflect on my 2022. As a now second-semester senior I feel like my time at Brandeis is coming to a close, and this fact is shocking to say the absolute least. My college experience was anything but conventional. I was a part of the last batch of midyears before the COVID-19 pandemic, starting at Brandeis a semester behind my colleagues with very few friends and only two months to make any new ones before the world came to a halt in March of 2020. To all the new midyears, don’t be frightened by my experience, making friends at Brandeis is easy if you don’t get interrupted by a pandemic. That summer I worked at a grocery store in New Hampshire, an essential worker spending days in the milk cooler or outside taking pictures of different species for my online biodiversity class. I somehow managed to make some friends that summer, while losing a few more than I ended up making. That seems to be the theme of my Brandeis experience.
2021 came fast, my sophomore year and the first half of my junior year zoomed past me in a whirlwind of card games, Zoom calls and trips home to see my cats. I kept myself safe and grounded, I was mostly secure in my bubble at Brandeis, but 2022 brought me to new places.
This past year I studied for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), I took the LSAT, I applied to law schools and I got into law schools. This past year I made new friends, lost old friends, got new jobs and internships and moved on from home in New Hampshire by fully moving to Waltham. With every change in 2022 though I kept the same hair color, which is an accomplishment only my friends and family would understand. In 2022 I was lonely and I was happy and I was confident and insecure; I was and did so much in 2022.
Now though is the future. Now it’s the year I graduate and actually become a whole person. Without the cushion of undergrad to break my fall I am going to have to take care of myself and work harder than ever before as I go into my 1L year wherever I end up going to law school. Recently I have had to start thinking about money, and I am lucky to have been able to go this long before worrying about how I will pay for rent and school. The reality of having to balance prestige with the cost of tuition and living is starting to set in and the path to achieve my personal career goals is one I have to find for myself.
I have so many opportunities being presented to me right now and I don’t feel stuck or lost or alone. I could go to New York or D.C. or (maybe) Chicago, or I could stay in the Boston area. No matter what though, I see happiness despite the intensity of post-grad. Working in the service industry means I can bond with people anywhere I go over our shared drinking problems, hate for people who order tea and love of work gossip. Some of the best people I’ve met this year were those I met working on Moody Street at Bistro781; they are people I look up to in so many different ways and people who are proud of me like they’re family.
2022 gave me options, it gave me time alone and gave me everything I needed to finally know what I want—except when it comes to law school, I still don’t know!
While so much of my life is undecided and unpredictable, I am comfortable with my few worries. I feel supported more than I ever have before, surrounded by people with similar ambitions who know how to take big leaps that might seem scary but are key for their futures— personal or career-centric. In the past, my ambition has scared the people I’ve surrounded myself with, and their lack of ambition has scared me.
Finally, right before I go, I feel comfortable at Brandeis. In 2022 I think I finally found my little community. In 2023 I will have to learn how to leave some of it behind.
