it's been awhile, and i'm wholly aware that this post is probably one that's long overdue. regardless, i have some time now, so why not post up some reflections on the past 4 years of my life. :P
it's quite the nostalgic time i suppose, stopping and looking back at where i am now and how far i've come and how far i've yet to go. i know it's cliche and all, but i'm now more than acutely aware that i've come to the end of one chapter in my life and the beginning of the next. within a matter of weeks i'll be starting full-time work at an ad agency, working as a junior graphic designer. needless to say i'm nowhere near ready to start full-time work and enter the design industry, but i suppose my plans of having a relaxing summer of part-time work at good ol' MFB and playing softball on weekends is quite the different from what God had in mind. otherwise the job wouldn't have come so easily, right? but i'll get into that more later.
so some things that i've learned over the past years in a rigorous 4-year design program, and just university in general:
- macs really are as good as they look :)
(of course, i say that as i type this on my relatively new macbook pro *drool* which by the way is a blessing alone, and only by God's grace was i able to pick one up before the end of the school year)
- it IS possible to do summer school, do a 3-week internship at a design studio, work part-time, play softball, maintain some sort of social life, be involved in church, spend time with family, AND have a relationship with God all at the same time
(mind you, they're not all equally balanced, and a lot of the time those that are closest to you get the biggest boot once projects and deadlines come and schedules get busy)
- sleep really is a luxury, especially 8 hours of it
- i probably won't be a lifer in the design industry
(lifer: someone whose been working in the design industry for 10+ years)
- a buncha design stuff
(widows, orphans, ligatures, typefaces, kerning, tracking, the works... and yes i can say that the YSDN program has messed me up forever... can't look at any printed thing without analyzing and critiquing it...even if it's just a little :P i'm weird and messed, i know...)
- i get weird when i'm tired and sleepy
(sometimes break out in uncontrollable giggles. heheheh... )
- sleeping at 4am every night for a week is absolutely normal
- the one-hour bus ride to sheridan is designated as nap time
(i.e. don't be talking to people, or they might actually hurt you :P )
- i live in a bubble... i'm actually a hermit
(well at least during the school year when i'm knee-deep, no, neck-deep, no, in-over-my-head deep in design projects, at other times i'm relatively normal, though i do have the odd hermit spell. :D )
- getting through 4 years in the York/Sheridan program doesn't seem so bad cuz i've probably repressed all of the memories of late nights, insane projects, crumby marks, etc.
(no clue how i got through it ... i can honestly only give credit to God's provisions to be able to make it through everything)
okay, all jokes aside, some more "serious" reflections i suppose ...
- God will always send the right people into your life when you need them most
(it is a God-send when there are people in your life that never give up on you despite you blowing them off, ignoring them, hardly giving them the time of day as you retreat into your own bubble of life ... you guys know who you are.... thanks a billion)
- there is much merit of the wonders that come about when other people are praying for you
(never woulda made it without all of those who have interceded for me)
- ignorance isn't really bliss... it's merely a means of delaying dealing with reality
(though sometimes it is nicer to live in the "ignorance is bliss" mentality :P )
- friendships are an essential foundation to ANY romantic relationship
(similarly, the maintenance of other friendships are crucial support pillars to have when in a romantic relationship ... to put it bluntly, thinking you don't need your friends once you're going out with someone is probably the biggest error in thinking you could make)
- you can't screw something up so much that God can't fix it
(that being said, you shouldn't go around trying to screw things up ... but saying "i'll mess things up and people will suffer the consequences of my mistakes" isn't an adequate excuse for not stepping up and serving in church/school ministries)
- time is the greatest investment you can put into friendships/relationships
(as nice as gifts, acts of kindness, attention, etc. are... time is really the most precious thing you can give someone)
- our actions should not be dictated by how others treat us, how they make us feel, etc.
(our actions essentially should be driven first and foremost by our relationship with God and how He calls us to act and react to the things around us)
- love and joy are choices, not wishy-washy feelings
(you need to choose to love, cuz you're not gonna wake up every day "feeling" like loving others... you need to choose to be joyful, cuz sometimes there are circumstances that essentially suck right down to the core, but because of the life, love, and support that God blesses us with, we have cause to be joyful always, despite our dire circumstances)
- being still and just STOPPING can be quite the task
(stopping and reflecting amidst the busy-ness of life, being still and sitting in silence are things that we aren't accustomed to doing in our culture and society, and yet it can be the most refreshing and empowering thing to do)
- trusting God can be the hardest thing in the world to do
(especially when you don't know what's ahead of you, and what will happen when you let go and let God ... truth be told though, when you entrust things to God, you can be assured that things will work out in the end... and that includes everything from school, work, money, relationships, future, etc.)
so there you have it... 20 reflections to wrap up some of the things i've learned in the last 4 years. and now, looking forward... i head into a new job that i really didn't expect to get (you can ask how that came about if you're interested). i don't have that "student" status anymore when i'm filling out forms... i move into the world of salaries, benefits, vacation times, etc... no more 4-month summer vacations and 3-week Christmas breaks... time to grow up i suppose. thing is, i'm really not all that ready to grow up yet. i'm not even 22 yet, and i feel quite the inadequate and ill-prepared to be starting work so soon. but i guess that's where the calling is for me to fully trust in God, right? quite the funny... how God works... never what you expect.
anyhoo, this is long 'nuff for a post. here's hoping now that school is officially over and done with (at least for the meantime) that blogging will be more of a regular occurrence rather than the rare occasion. :)