the world did not end, only college did

 Greetings EN502!

I am writing to you now from my childhood bedroom—a bizarre place to be after the buzz of senior year. Only a week and a half after graduation, I am finding that I am already juggling a life in-between. I am working at a bookstore on Newbury Street (a bucket list job) and regularly seeing the friends from school who stuck around Boston, but also feeling like my independence is on pause. I do look forward to summer night walks with my Mom, home cooked food, and the comfort of being surrounded by all of my books. 

The day after graduation I drove eight hours with a group of friends to an island off the coast of New Jersey. We spent a few days by the beach, enjoying the salty air and recovering from senior-week chaos. I got very excited about sand dollars and hand-churned ice cream. The sunsets on the bay were pink and perfect and I would like to bundle them up and keep them with me. 

For the rest of June I will be working and preparing for a two-week van camping trip through Olympic National Park and Vancouver Island. I am excited to explore the North West and hoping my family maintains sanity in such tight quarters!

What am I reading now? 

The Sun and The Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro. The protagonist is Nico DiAngelo and it has been fun to dip back into the Percy Jackson universe. 

What am I listening to? 

The Hidden Brain Podcast, Remi Wolf, The Japanese House, and Florence + The Machine

What am I watching? 

FINALLY watching Studio Ghibli. I am so late to the game. I love soft world building with my whole heart. 

Also I am emotionally recovering from a letter pre-college me wrote to post-college me. I did not remember writing it!!! But my Mom kept it in her top drawer for all four years and surprised me with it on graduation day. It was four pages long and somehow, incredibly, I am living exactly the life a younger Michaela wanted. I am grateful, lucky, and feeling very protective of the 18 year old who wrote that letter.

Here's to the next adventure!

Cheers,

Michaela