After returning back to campus this past week, I have had time to reflect on this summer. And with that, I realized that it was not like anything I expected it to be- but in the best way possible.

Last semester was a wild ride of sorts for me, (including losing both of my grandparents within two weeks of each other) as I have alluded to in past articles, so my summer plans were put on hold. All internships I was going to apply to slipped away from me, and it seemed like almost everyone else had something super cool that they were doing. By May, I lost sense of almost everything I was doing and it seemed like the summer would be filled with a black hole of nothingness.

After wallowing in my own self pity, however, I realized that it was up to me, to a certain degree, to get new, unexpected (non-revenge related) things set in motion for my Summer ’16 (excuse the Drake pun, I just cannot help it whatsoever).

So, I decided to apply to take a summer course at a local university near me for the summer- and it was a great decision. I signed up to re-take the class I had to withdraw from last semester once both of my grandparents passed and I could not keep up with the work any longer.

Then, things just kind of set themselves in motion from there, leading me to things I had no idea I would be doing that summer. One, most notably, was my old Odyssey Editor-In-Chief asking me if I wanted to fill her shoes for the summer, to which I obviously accepted. I did not know what the experience would bring me, but it was everything I could hope and more. Being EIC brought a new dimension to my experience with Odyssey that I absolutely loved.

Soon after I was asked to return to my old summer retail job that I returned to on breaks (with a raise) which was also really great, albeit not unexpected. The only unexpected part was the number of hours I worked, since I had previously thought I would have an internship or something else. So, I worked a lot more than anticipated, which I really enjoyed as well- I love working there and also getting that extra ~cash money~ if you feel me.

Overall, I had three solid, unexpectedly amazing things I was doing for my summer. However, I think the most rewarding part of my summer was the amount of time I got to spend with my family, especially my sister. It was the feeling of waking up some days and having absolutely nothing to do, so we would just head to the beach. Or go shopping somewhere new for us. Or just sitting home with my mom and sister watching reruns of “The Office” together. Or even reading new books (most recently “The Unexpected Everything” by Morgan Matson- love it). It was the feeling of just doing whatever, whenever, on the days I had none of my other commitments. This summer gave me a flexibility I had never really known before, and I saw people and went places and did things I never would have done if it was not for this summer.

So, sometimes when it seems like everything is falling apart, the cliché saying is true. Maybe some other things are just being set in motion, or coming together. Maybe we just have to have faith in the unexpected.

It could just work out, like this summer did for me.