Dear Summer 2024,
As always, you teach us just how fast time can pass. It feels like it was just yesterday we were putting our light jackets and sweaters in our closets and taking out our swimsuits for the season. It feels like it was just yesterday we were telling our students and faculty to have a great summer. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was planning and looking forward to all of the things I had planned for the season. But just like time, it finally came, we experienced it, and now it’s a memory.
For me, I started off my summer checking another K-pop group off of my list to see live in concert. For context, I was actually really nervous at first to go to a TXT (Tomorrow X Together) concert considering that they are one of the more popular K-pop groups in the industry, and K-pop stans can really be intense. Needless to say, I was really excited to see these guys live, and they did not disappoint! Sure, the K-pop industry is currently saturated with different groups as the genre becomes more westernized, but there are a select few that really know how to put on a performance; TXT being one of those at the top of that list! It was also the first concert I went to that I nearly lost my voice at, which wasn’t surprising at all.
I spent my afternoons this summer going out to eat and getting drinks; particularly to celebrate the accomplishments and blessings that were coming our way. This summer, I finally got my notary license after passing the test earlier this year, and I was now further getting into the process of being hired permanently at my job, and my partner released his first ever music video to one of his original tracks! In hindsight, I saw just how different celebrations are in your 30s. For me, celebrations in my 20s were always clouded by this self-hatred and doubt I had for myself because I never felt I was deserving enough to have the things I actually worked hard for. Maturing made me realize that time simply passes by too fast to not celebrate these accomplishments, no matter how small they may be to everyone else. Yes, I’m going to celebrate the fact that I aced this second job interview after nearly stressing out about it for two weeks straight. Yes, I’m going to celebrate the fact that I got my Notary license after studying non-stop for a month straight, thinking I failed. Yes, I am also to celebrate the people around me and their accomplishments, because everyone deserves to be recognized for them as they also worked hard to achieve them.
Summer 2024 was also the first time I was able to go on a summer vacation! My partner and I went away to Atlantic City in July; it was my first time ever going to the place that nearly every person within the five boroughs has gone to. Despite me getting sick during our vacation, I had such a good time walking the boardwalk, going to the casino to win a little bit of money, getting drinks in The Quarter, and going to the outlets where we shopped ’til we dropped. It was a well needed vacation after months of working and nearly burning out because of it. I came back refreshed and recharged, ready to tackle the Fall semester that was to come.
One thing about the trip that stood out to me the most was when we were in our hotel room, relaxing after having dinner one night. We were watching all the 90s/00s sitcoms; this particular hour they played Girlfriends. Tracee Ellis Ross’ character, Joan, was experiencing a huge shift in her life; she had left her current job and broke up with her serious long-term boyfriend. She chats with her younger co-worker, who is very serious about her hot-dog food court job, about having set up these expectations for herself that nearly make up her identity. She sits her down and tells her, “Trust me, you don’t want to be 32 and never stopped to smell the roses.” Both my partner and I looked at the TV and said “Whoa”. It was real. It made me realize that this summer was truly about enjoying the simple things in life and learning how to slow down, even when time doesn’t.
This summer not only marked my one-year anniversary being in this full-time position, but it also was the marking of actually being hired permanently into it! For the last year, I was on a temporary line of the position, awaiting for HR to put together the listing for that I could officially apply for the position. After months of resume building and various job interviews that caused an acne breakout throughout the entirety of June, I was given the official news that I was being hired officially in my position! This upcoming academic year will be the first in where I am completely working in this role, so I’m a little nervous about the transition. Nevertheless, I am excited to finally be secure professionally; now it’s time to cross some other things off of my bucket list.
It was great while it lasted, Summer 2024; thank you for the memories and for allowing me to see just how important it was to enjoy the summer; both celebrating the accomplishments I worked hard for and taking some time to slow down and simply live.
Until next summer.
Letters From Liz. 