Hello everyone! It's Alexa! It has been quite awhile since you have last heard from me. This previous spring semester was really busy, but also really amazing. I had some of the most incredible college experiences and opportunities this semester. Even though I have now been a full time college student for two years, I am not done with my time at community college. I have one more year in order to finish all four of my programs before I plan to transfer.

With just over 20 weeks into 2019 I would like to share with you what I have been working on.

This previous spring semester I took 17 credits, was Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper and was the Vice President of Service for the school honor society. I worked three part time jobs as I continued my job as a babysitter, worked as a graphic artist for a magazine's website and hosted open mics about once a month. I ended the semester for the first time with a 4.0 GPA. Next year I will continue with both my leadership positions, my part time jobs and take 15 credits per semester. This summer I am taking 13 credits.

Recently I started the planning process for transferring after next year. I met with the transfer counselor from the school I wish to attend after community college and also visited the school itself for the third or fourth time by going to an open house. At the open house I met one of the dining service managers and was able to learn about how they handle food allergies. Based on this experience I am confident enough in their abilities to label all the foods and be considerate of cross contact that I am considering for the first time to potentially live on campus. However I do not think I would want to have a roommate as I still view my food allergies as a burden to others. I am also afraid that someone would not be willing to keep my allergens out of the room.

This previous semester I tried my best to start almost every day by meditating using the Headspace app which as a student I pay $10 a year for. I started working out again by going to the local YMCA and taking classes there. During the spring semester I tried to go exercise two to three times a week. I started with Zumba and some yoga, but now I am also doing Turbo Kick, which is a form of kickboxing and Country Fusion, which is a form of line dancing. Country Fusion is my favorite class there, I really love it.

I also read a lot, in addition to my textbooks and articles for the school newspaper, I read a lot of Young Adult fiction books. For the school newspaper I also wrote the most articles I have ever written in one semester and I wrote a lot of poetry that I read at open mics. I did not write on here as much as I have when compared to other semesters, but my "Never Enough" post I ended up editing a bit and then publishing in the school newspaper under the title "I am Enough".

By using my Passion Planner I felt like I had a greater understanding of each week as I could visually see everything I needed to do everyday. I was able to set goals, prioritize what to do in what order and figure out my life again.

I really loved this semester and for the first time I think I can say I finally started to love myself again. I gave myself time everyday to not only meditate, but also to reflect and write about gratitude. Since the start of this year I have been writing one good thing that happened every day.

By being able to take a step back and reflect on everything that happened in the past couple of years and then focus on the present I was able to really start moving forward. I will not let my past continue to hold me back, as instead I will continue to move forward.

#countryfusion