Ok I'll bite. Here's a year-in-review post. (And it's an excuse to post photos of myself)
This wasn't a monumental year. I didn't experience life-altering events nor did I absolutely hate it. Coming off a wonky 2013 that sent me for an emotional loop, I entered the year with incredibly low expectations. Those expectations were succeeded throughout.
This year I worked. I worked a lot. I was also incredibly sick for three months. Well, one month death-bed-why-is-my-throat-half-closed and then two months of never feeling well and having an enlarged organ just chilling in my rib cage (Thanks, mono!). But even during those few sick months I still worked. I've worked on several shoots and realized that I really love production work. I also did make-up on several shoots. Like people wanted me to do make-up because of what they had seen before. That's crazy to me.
I traveled a few places too. Spent President's Day weekend with one of my closest friends at Harvard judging a speech and debate tournament. Popped over to Kankakee, IL in September and saw family I haven't seen in four or five years at my cousin's wedding. Jumped across the pond to London to see my two best college friends while they studied abroad. Every trip was filled with laughs and love and were always the much needed break from my beautiful city.
I fell back in love with improv, almost fell back out in the fall, but was quickly enraptured once again after separating myself for a few months. I'm in conservatory at Magnet and I'm starting UCB classes back up in the New Year. I'm confident in my skills and finally feel comfortable calling myself an improviser without feeling like a kid pretending to be an adult.
I started creating my own projects. Just a taste, but the reception of those pieces was confidence-boosting and let me think "Hey, maybe I actually am funny?"
This year challenged me creatively. This year challenged me emotionally. This year challenged me with personal relationships. But it didn't knock me down. I am a part of a community that I love and I can feel the love reciprocated. I had amazing experiences with new and old friends. I am appreciated for my work and had the opportunity to work with some incredibly talented folks this year. I was paid for those skills and the feeling of someone handing you money for your creative work was exhilarating even if the amount is small. It gave me confidence for the next year and the mentality that I'm not entirely crazy for jumping into this job-security-less world.
With the beginning of 2015, I have a year and a half left that I know I will for sure be in New York. That scares me. But it also thrills me. It's a deadline, a challenge of what I can do in that time. A challenge also to try and set up a life in this city post-graduation. I have my goals in mind and I'm going to push myself even more every month as the deadline approaches.
All in all, this year built my confidence. It had it's ups and, of course, downs. But it's another year I survived. And that's the most important part of it all.
