Living
in Manhattan is considered one of the most exciting experiences in the world.
The amazing sights, sounds, and opportunities suck in thousands of occupants
and hopefuls alike. However, one can get lost in the hustle and bustle of the
big city. It’s so easy for a person to feel small and insignificant when living
among hundreds and thousands of goal-focused men and women. Having only been
here for a few months myself, I find myself thinking quite often: what
difference does my life make in such a huge and heavily occupied pond?
What
I’ve decided to do is make my life count- like really count! By trying to
improve myself and therefore affect the future generations, I feel that I can
make every day meaningful for both myself and those around me. Here are some of
the goals that I hope to work on in the upcoming year:
1.
Be less superficial: As a girly girl, I
tend to get caught up in loving makeup and tutorials- it verges on obsessive.
That’s all perfectly fine, in my opinion, but it seems that my first thought
upon meeting a new person (which tends to happen a lot during the first
semester of school, by the way) is regarding whether they’re attractive or not.
What the hell is that about? That’s not supposed to be a conscious thing you
actually say to yourself in your head. I’ve begun to obsess over it when in
reality, people have so much more to offer than their appearance. I hope to
turn my focus on myself more to “healthy” than to “pretty” and think less about
other’s appearances and more about what’s on the inside.
2.
Become my own woman!: Most women are very
confident in the fact that they’re independent and don’t need a man- I’m not
lucky enough to be one of those women and never have been. Every day, I just
daydream about when my prince charming will get here a whisk me away. I so
strongly prefer being in a relationship that I feel that I am very emotionally
dependent on another person, whether a consistent friend or boyfriend. In
moving to the city, I’ve already taken a step toward independence and as of
being recently single as a result, I hope to continue the independence on an
emotional level, as difficult as this can be in a new environment.
3.
Make the most of my time in college: Real
moment: college is super expensive, so I want to get as much out of it as
possible! For me, that means figuring out if I want to minor in something and
also to be 100% sure that this major is for me by taking a wide variety of
classes about many different subjects. I also want to stay focused on my acting
without turning into the typical cut-throat, competitive aspiring actress. I
want to find a balance between doing what I love in studio and still having
time for truly experiencing New York entirely.
I want to discover what I REALLY love. Originally, as most of you know, I
thought my calling was in the realm of musical theater, and I obviously love
acting with all my heart, which is why I accepted changing my focus with open
arms. However, as I’m learning more about myself, I’m realizing that I adore
kids, weddings, fashion, writing for you guys (both articles and stories) and
so much more! I’m hoping to figure this out through studio and NYC, which
combination makes me happiest.
4.
Find balance between new life and family:
I absolutely had to leave home to follow my dream and I completely understand
embracing independence, but my family has always been super close. My new goal
is to go home for one weekend every month, but it’s already been more frequent
than that. I really hope that it will eventually become a relatively even
balance of time and effort.
5.
Read books: The best sense of
satisfaction accompanies finishing a good book, especially one that you’ve
wanted to read for a long time. Although it might be a challenge schedule-wise,
I hope to revisit favorites and classics and read great books that I’ve heard
of, but never had the time to read. This is another way for me to learn through
my own devices and choices.
6.
Only reach out to my true friends:
College is all about meeting new people. It’s totally okay to have only
superficial friends at first, but I eventually want to get to a point where I’m
only putting in effort to genuine, loyal friends, both from home and school.
This will assist with my visits back home as well because it’ll still be nice
and everything, but old fake friends won’t hold me back. I will therefore be
able to let go of negativity in my past and move forward in my new life on an
emotional level.
7.
Find a way to help people: As much as I
love acting, it’s always felt like a very self-serving profession. I’ve
recently found a way for it to be less selfish (which I will talk about later,
in case you’re interested), but I also try to reach out and help others through
my writing. I’m interested in a little volunteer work on the sides as well. It
doesn’t seem like much, but a small difference in the world around you is still
a difference and you have no idea who you could be affecting.
8.
Broaden cultural horizons: Coming from a
small town, I experienced little to no cultural diversity in my lifetime and
the furthest I’ve travelled is Maine. NYU is incredibly diverse, and if I’m
able to go abroad, I will be able to open my mind to new experiences and
people. This one’s pretty self-explanatory, so I’ll move on to the end. (I
think y’all have read enough at this point).
In
general, I’m trying to figure out a way to make my life more meaningful every
single day and I hope to inspire my readers to join me on this journey. You may
be a little fish, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a big splash, both
personally and for others.
