Thank you so much to everyone who has followed my blog over this year. Though I don’t really post in hopes of receiving hundreds of views, I’m really pleased with the overall reception. This year has been truly a blessing despite some moments of despair and unhappiness. Through each moment of darkness I had amazing support from my family and friends to guide me back to a brighter place and I just can’t thank you enough. Without further ado, here are my top 10 moments of 2013:

1. My first weekend in London and all 14 after
To keep this brief, spending 4 months in London was by far a dream come true. To this day I still think, “how was this real?” Over the semester I visited 15 cities in 7 different countries, saw dozens of shows, attended different sporting events and drank hard cider until I couldn’t drink it any more. Although it was sad to leave I cannot wait until the day I am reunited with the city that still has my heart.

2. Trip to Cambridge on Valentines Day
On Valentine’s Day I spent the afternoon alone wondering around Cambridge, UK. Although that sounds super depressing, it was actually incredibly refreshing to be out of the city and see another spectacular British town. In the evening right before my train “home,” I attended a church service at Kings College and heard the elegant voices of the young men’s choir.

3. Birthday weekend in Salzburg, Austria
After major 21st birthday celebration in London with friends, I hopped on plane to Salzburg, Austria, where they filmed my favorite movie, The Sound of Music. On Saturday I experienced the world of the Von Trapps in a new way by walking through some of the movie’s top film locations. The sights were breath taking and the food was marvelous. Not even a hangover, a lost iPhone or a little bit of snow could have ruined this trip.

4. Advertising Week Europe
While taking the tube one afternoon I saw an ad for the first ever Advertising Week Europe. Everything about that week was magical. I learned so much about advertising and the industry in Europe. The experience was wondering and hope that one day I could go back and attend the event again. (For more about my experience check out my Top 7 Take-Aways Blog Post)

5. Moving to Boston for my dream internship
When I got back from London I wasn’t sure what my summer was going to be like. I had no internship lined up yet and hadn’t spent more than 2 weeks at home since 2011. Within a few weeks the offer from Mullen in Boston arrived and I was foolish to even consider turning it down. So I moved to Boston for 11 amazing weeks. One of the best days of my summer was when I was talking to the Mullen CEO, Joe Grimaldi, about One Direction and he asked if I was British.

6. Porchfest
There is nothing more Ithaca than Porchfest. In a nutshell it’s a town-wide music festival in which local musicians perform on porches around Ithaca. Sadly this year was my very first and probably my last Porchfest. As sad as I am that I’ve only enjoyed one Porchfest, I’m so happy I did and I got to spend it with my wonderful friends.

7. Last Creative Crunch (as a student)
When I was a freshman I helped put together the very first Creative Crunch, an advertising competition hosted by the Ithaca College chapter of the American Advertising Federation. Since then I have either been a project manager, the president or studying abroad, preventing me from participating in the competition. For for the first time in like 3 years I was able to participate in the competition and compete with my talented friends. With hard work and outstanding teamwork we were able to clench 2nd place and I couldn’t have been prouder. We nailed it!

8. Cortaca
This had to be on the list for this was probably one of the most fun days I’ve had. Even though we lost the football game for the 4th year in a row, I was surrounded by the people I love as we “enthusiastically” cheered on the Bombers.

9. Semi Formal
This was the first dance I had attended since my semi formal my freshman year of high school. Even though the weather was miserable I truly enjoyed being all dolled up and surrounded by so many people I care about making what was probably one of my last memories to make as an IC student.  

10. Graduation 
There is no better way to end the year than graduate college a semester early magnum cum laude and with job plans in the works. I know I couldn’t have done it with all the truly amazing family and friends who have supported me along the way.

As you could see 2013 was quite spectacular and 2014 has giant shoes to fill, but boy am I excited to tackle this year head on. I will forever look back on 2013 with fond memories as I have the years before it. I can’t help but get excited just thinking about the memories I will make this up coming year. Thanks to everyone who made 2013 so fantastic, I hope/know you will remain in my life in this next year and the years beyond.

While in college who you are often defined by your involvement; whether that’s in a club, organization, sports team, sorority or fraternity. At least that’s how I’ve felt for the last 3.5 years. When people would ask, “Tell me a little about yourself” I would say like

Hello person reading my first blog post as an Ithaca College graduate,

I’m proud to say, “[I] did it!” like Elle Woods does at the end of Legally Blonde. I’ve survived 7 semesters at this fine institution and to no surprised I’m sad to leave. I’m not sad because I’m afraid of what comes next, but rather I’m sad to say goodbye to the life I have here. I can confidently confess that I’ve lived each semester to its fullest, participating in virtually every opportunity I ever wanted. I held 6 eBoard positions, worked 5 different campus jobs, studied abroad, graduated with honors and made memories I will cherish forever. There isn’t really any more I could have asked from my college experience.

As I say farewell to the amazing college life I have lived for the last 3.5 years, I wish to leave behind 5 pieces of advice to those who are entering, in or about to graduate from college.

1. Surround Yourself With Amazing People
Saying goodbye to Ithaca has been so hard because of the amazing friends and people I’ve had the privilege to get to know and work with over the last few years. When you surround yourself with amazing people as I have you have no choice to be the best person you can be. They truly motivate you to work hard and never give up. They make you laugh when you’re down (aka “you’re arm is soft” & the “ha” game), they listen when times are tough. They buy you lotion when you’re car is broken, let you watch them eat chocolate bunnies and bake you muffins when they’re stressed. They let you mooch off their Macbook chargers and pimp out their roommates.

Don’t give up on surrounding yourself with amazing people after freshman year. I met some of my closest friends sophomore, junior, even senior year.

2. Never Do Something That Doesn’t Make You Feel Good (Except for Homework)
College is expensive. Why would you ever pay thousands of dollars to do something that doesn’t inspire you, make you happy or teach you something? Exactly. Find clubs, organizations, activities that just ignite this flame of passion inside of you. Take classes outside your major that introduce you to new ideas and make you think outside of your comfort zone. Pick up that minor is COMPLETELY irrelevant to your possible job but interests you.

3. Study Away
Get off campus. Go to New York City, London, LA, Beijing, South Africa, DC, France, Germany, Italy, some place! Do it for a semester, a summer, during a break! No matter what, spend some time away from home or campus. You not only get to learn about the place you’ll be, you’ll learn about yourself, you’ll learn about other people and you’ll learn about yourself through other people. My experience abroad was unlike any other experience I’ve ever had and I know personally it will stay close to my heart forever.

4. Worry About the Real World A Little Bit
I’m probably the first person to encourage people to worry. Yes, worry. Worrying about your future isn’t a bad thing to do because it means you care. You don’t need to know what you want to do next but it is important to care about it. Worry about where you’re going to live, where you’re going to work and what you’re going to do. Once you’ve done all the worrying you can start putting all of the piece together which is incredibly exciting.

5. Be There Now
This is cliche but live in the moment. I cannot tell you how many times I kept worrying about tomorrow, or next week, or next month and before you know it time had past me by. Enjoy what is happening right now, right in front of you. If not you’ll blink and it will be all over.

So there you have it. My advice. Nothing you probably haven’t heard before but now I have a Bachelor’s degree so it has more value. Just kidding.

I don’t believe in fate exactly but I do believe that things happen for a reason.

Back in April 2010 my stubborn mother demanded that I visit Ithaca College one more time before I sent my deposit in. So during Spring Break I grabbed a friend and went up to IC for three days . We crashed with our friend who was a Theater Arts Management freshman and took the few days to take tours, see a Dillingham production of Floyd Collins and sit in on some classes. My friend’s “big” was an Integrated Marketing Communications minor and asked if I was interested in coming to sit in on her Marketing on the Internet course. That’s what I did. After 50 mins of discussion about Chat Roulette, the Jersey Shore and some amazing final project presentations, I walked out of the classroom and immediately called my mother to tell her to put my deposit into the mail. I’m going to Ithaca College!

3.5 years later it is rather sentimental that the first class I ever sat in at Ithaca College will also be my last. On Friday at 1pm I will experience the last class of my undergraduate career and appropriately it will be Marketing on the Internet with the same professor I took it with almost 4 years ago.

Oh, how much I have changed over the last 3.5 years but I am absolutely grateful that 1) my mother demanded I visit IC one last time and 2) that I got to sit in on that class and just see a preview of what my experience at Ithaca was about to be. Honestly, even then I didn’t realize how amazing it truly would and how lucky I am to have met so many incredible people. Yup. I’m going to miss it.

I stumbled upon this awesome photo blog after my friend posted it on Facebook. It’s absolutely ingenious! It’s called Real Life Instagram. Essentially it features photos with an Instagram boarder & filter. Oh, and did I mention all of the photos are taken in LONDON?! Yes, the city I love dearly and aspire to live. Check out this awesome blog!