My Bucket List for the Summer Before Law School

I start law school August 22nd. After graduating undergrad in May, summer seems to by flying by. There are a lot of things I want to do before law school starts but time is limiting what I can realistically do. Here is my realistic bucket list for before law school starts.

Saying Goodbye to Findlay, OH

I have lived the last 11 years in the same city. Though not the place of my birth, it is the place where I went through the awkward pre-teen days, suffered through high school, attended a local private college, met the love of my life and grew very attached to this sleepy little Ohio town in the process. This week we are moving to a new city... we bought a house and are putting down some new roots. While it is exciting and a whole new adventure, the pang of loss is more than I expected as I say goodbye to my hometown.

At first I hated this place. When I moved here 11 years ago, I was determined that I would never learn to like it and leave as soon as I could. As time wore on, I began to think of it as my true home and understood that even a quiet, flat Ohio town had some hidden gems. I learned that Dietsch Brothers has the best chocolate and ice cream in the world. I found out the best cookies ever hail only from Bread Kneads. Georgehouse truly has the best coffee around and is the best study location for a struggling college student. Main Street Deli has the best sandwiches in town and is the perfect stop for lunch. Logans is my favorite restaurant and it is almost like being in a real Irish pub though I am stuck in the Ohio cornfields. The reservoir has the best views in town. Nino's is basically the only bar you will visit as a college student and it may be a small hole in the wall but it is rather fun.

It was not until I truly was buying a house in another city and packing my things that I realized I was leaving this place that had truly become my home. I did not go away to college so this is the first time I have ever truly "left" since I arrived as an eleven-year-old girl. I was not expecting it to be so hard or so bittersweet... I did not realize how much this town has become a part of me. I have learned to love it's quietness and the overall quality of the people who live here. Even when Black Friday shopping people are nice and thoughtful. It is such a warm and happy place and I know that it is something I took for granted while I lived here and will miss when I am gone.

No matter where I go or where I end up, I am thankful to have grown up in Findlay, OH. This little town I once loathed became the home I hate to leave and I am thankful to have grown up in such a wonderful place. I may be moving away and learning a new zip code but I know that the University of Findlay Alumni sticker will always live on my car, Dietsch chocolate will always be my favorite and Findlay will always be considered home.

An Open Letter to my Undergraduate University

A month ago I graduated undergrad. I said goodbye to friends who have become family, a community that has become home and an institution that has impacted my life irrevocably.

I want to thank my college for all the free T-shirts and sweatshirts. My sleepwear is set for a very long time and I will be reppin' my college for years to come.

Thanks for all the free food ... over the years, midnight munchies and steak night has kept me fed throughout some rough weeks. It is so nice to have a college that feeds you.

I am so thankful for all the professors who pushed me, taught me, challenged me and were always there for whatever you needed. Going to an institution where there was an open door policy to all professors was something I took for granted and was so lucky to have.

I had so many opportunities to get involved and have leadership positions. I did varsity sports, led organizations and was able to become more well rounded.

I enjoyed going to college surrounded by cornfields. Though it was boring at times, it was a small, homey town full of charm and I could not have imagined four years anywhere else. I also never felt unsafe, which was a relief to both myself and my parents.

I am beyond grateful for the study abroad experience my institution offered. I was able to go to London and receive credit and have my life changed in the process.

I am glad that a bunch of really cool people decided to come to the same school so I could make some lifelong friends and have four years of amazing fun and memories.

I am glad I got to move out on my own and stretch my legs as an adult. Learning to cook and do laundry was pretty valuable in the long scheme of things.

I am so happy to always have a community to fall back on. I will always be a part of something bigger than just myself and my education; I was a member of the class of 2016 and a part of the greater alumni association. I will proudly have that alumni sticker on my car from now on.

Moving on to home ownership, marriage, grad school and a new city, I am finding myself growing very nostalgic about this little college community that has taken great care of me for four of the best years of my life. Though at times I hated everything about it and other times wanted to be anywhere other than the library or basement classroom, I know these are things I will look back on fondly saying "those were the days." Someday, I will bring my kids to visit my undergraduate college and show them the room where I had that horrid math class and the table I always sat at to study for big tests and my favorite smoothie at the coffee shop. I will tell them that this was the place where I grew into an adult and had some of the greatest times of my life. Then I will leave and say, once again, thank you for my perfectly unperfect four years of undergrad. 

5 Ways Studying Abroad Changed My Life

After my junior year of college, I spent three weeks studying abroad in London, England. Needless to say (as my family can attest to because I never shut up about it), it was an absolutely life-changing experience that I can never forget. I am so thankful I was able to study abroad and make the memories that I did. Beyond that, studying abroad truly changed me as a person in five major ways.

1. I became independent.
Prior to studying abroad in London, I had never traveled anywhere without my parents, friends or fiancé. I took off to London, England, all by myself with a suitcase, a backpack and a whole bunch of plans. While I did become very close friends with my fellow classmates and we did a lot of things together, this was still something independent for me. I planned an entire trip to Ireland 110 percent by myself; I also completed a large research project by myself. I figured out how to navigate the Tube by myself. The sense of independence I gained while studying abroad is priceless to me because it helped me to give up some of my shyness and need to hide within a group. I gained the confidence to do things on my own and strike out with my own ideas and adventures and see where they lead. I cannot express how much I value that growth of independence within myself that I gained while studying abroad.

2. I opened my mind.
Prior to London, I had never been out of the U.S. unless you count Canada and Mexico. Going to a new country with a new culture made me open my mind. I learned to accept and embrace cultural changes. I learned to try new food and drinks. I am normally a very closed and sedentary person; I like things a certain way and to stay comfortable. Studying abroad thrust me totally out of my comfort zone and made me open up and go with the flow. I have tried to maintain that upon coming home. I try to say yes to things more often than no and seek adventure instead of hiding at home.

3. I learned it's OK to get lost.
I am a type-A, OCD-planning fanatic. I plan everything right down to the minuscule detail. Case in point: before going to London, I had every single day planned out and day trips booked. I was packed two and a half weeks in advance, and I had even Google mapped the route from my apartment to a grocery, the nearest Tube station and The University College of London where I would be studying. Despite all my obsessive planning, things went awry and plans did not work out. Sometimes I had a certain event planned but something better came up and I just went with it. Usually, the experience I had in replacement of my planned event was more memorable. I got lost for two hours one morning while trying to find a museum. Instead of getting upset like I normally would have, I embraced the experience and all the neat things I saw along my route. I still love to plan and have things go according to plan, but when things go awry now, I try to embrace it and see where it takes me because some of my best memories in London came from being completely lost and confused and stumbling upon something great.

4. I learned to appreciate my home.
Though I love London and am dying to go back ASAP, my time across the pond made me appreciate my sleepy little Ohio hometown. The minute I officially committed to study abroad, I was so excited to get out of Ohio cornfields and explore one of the most cultured cities in the world. By my third week there, I was definitely ready to come back home. I missed my family, my friends, my pets and the wide-open spaces. I realized how wonderful my little town is, even if it is not anything like London. I would visit London over and over and over and even live there for a brief time, but Ohio is home. Ohio is where I want to raise my children and live out my days. If I had not studied abroad and fallen in love with London, I may have never learned to appreciate why home is home.

5. I became empowered.
The biggest way studying abroad changed my life was that I became so empowered by the entire experience. Something about traveling the world on my own and making memories for a lifetime left me feeling like I could take on anything life throws my way. Going to law school can't be any more intimidating than planning an entire trip to Ireland by myself and staying in hostels, and yet Ireland was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Buying a house? Can't be anything harder than navigating the night buses at 3 a.m. trying to get back to our flat (which I did successfully in order to get home). Going to London was scary and intimidating. Living in London for three weeks was an experience that was not easy, but yet it's something I accomplished and I made the memories of a lifetime. If I can conquer traveling abroad at 21 years old and alone, I feel like I can do anything.

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to study abroad in my college career. I cannot express how much of an impact the experience had on my life. Saying goodbye to London was hard, but I know I will go back someday. I left a little piece of my heart there and it left a pretty big impact on me.

Senioritis

In high school, I thought my senior year was rough ... I thought that was the time of "senioritis." I was wrong. College takes it to a whole other level, my senioritis affliction is currently pretty darn serious but in a different way. In high school, I just wanted to be done and go off to college and live on my own. I was facing exciting changes, and I was dying to feel like an adult. Now, I have been an adult for four years, lived on my own, paid my own bills and realized being an adult isn't quite as glamorous as it seems. Facing some huge life changes and even more "adulting" is making me want to stay in undergrad forever. I think it is the fact that I am facing such major life changes after graduation (marriage, home ownership, moving to a new city, law school) that is making me want this semester to never end. The fall semester of my senior year seemed to drag on forever, and now this spring is flying by. I have so much homework and so many things to do and graduation is creeping up on me so fast, and I am not ready.

My wish to stay in undergrad is not making me any more productive ... I have so many papers and so many presentations and final exams to study for ... yet all I want to do is cuddle with my puppy and binge watch "The Office." I have so much work just looming over my head and absolutely no motivation to do it. I may be over the schoolwork of undergrad, but I still am not quite ready to leave.

I have also started to realize that college is one of the most fun times of your life. Never again will I get to live with my girlfriends and eat cookie dough while avoiding studying. Never again will I have a part-time job that is fun and easy and not terribly serious. Never again will I think it is OK to skip class and watch Netflix until noon. Never again will I have summers off to travel the world or go home to my parents and have them do my laundry and cook me dinner. Never again will I have free access to a really nice gym.

I went to undergrad in the same town I have lived in since I was 10 years old. I have called this adorable little town "home" for a huge portion of my life, and I love it. My undergraduate institution is also both of my parents alma mater. It had always been a huge part of my life even before I was a student. Though I lived on my own through college, my parents were only 10 minutes away, and I could go home for a home cooked meal or to have my mom wash my dress pants. I am comfortable and safe here, and now I am moving away and leaving all that behind ... I am moving to a new city that I do not know much of anything about. I have to start at a new college that I have no attachment or affiliation to. Though it is exciting and a new adventure, it is a little bit scary to leave somewhere I have called home for not only my four years of college but also my pre-teen and teenage years.

Senioritis for college is turning out to be rather strange ... I am so ready to be done yet at the same time I am scared to death to leave the comfort of my calm, small town and liberal arts college. My four years here have been a rollercoaster of emotions; they have been hard, stressful, emotionally trying and there have been days I wanted to quit. They have also been fun, mind opening, empowering, full of lasting friendships and memories I will cherish for a lifetime. I would not change my college years for anything and I am cherishing my last few weeks here. I may have "senioritis" but I am happily afflicted and enjoying every second.