I finished my freshman year in college intending to take classes at the local community college to get credits out of the way and to work as an administrative assistant in a small business owner’s office. I finished my freshman year of college knowing that I was luckily qualified enough to be selected as a Scholastic Assistant (TA) for the upcoming fall semester. I finished my freshman year of college hoping that maybe, just maybe, my name would get off of the Residential Assistant’s waitlist and that I’d get to experience a year living in the dorms. I finished my freshman year of college satisfied, yet not expecting what was to come.

As things at school started to wrap up, so did some of my friendships. Sometimes friendships take their course. Sometimes they just take breaks. Sometimes people just need time to grow and learn…. just not with you.

However- this summer I also rekindled old friendships that needed another touch of the spark. I ran into an acquaintance in the most unexpected of places and fostered that simple acquaintance into a beautiful relationship. I reached out to people who I hadn’t talked to in a while and strengthened the bond we once had. If you had told me a year ago that I would be close with some of the friends I am close with today, I would never have believed you. Life works in unexpected ways and for that I am thankful.

My best friend came back home from college and while her mom cooked a homemade meal for the entirety of her hall, drove 2.5 hours up to LA, packed up her daughter’s room as she took her final, and drove back home to show up at 1 AM, I watched her little brother! Before I left, we were sipping on some tea as I told my best friend and her mom a funny story about a 3-year old I babysat a few weeks ago. I had never seen two people laugh that hard. Maybe I saw some tears. I thought to myself that if I could make two people laugh this hard, maybe I could make twenty people laugh even harder. So… I decided to try stand up comedy. Just a few weeks later, in simple conversation, I found out that a close friend was a huge fan of stand up and wanted to try open-mics as well.

She and I went once a week for about two months. We both encouraged each other, gave each other constructive reviews, but most importantly, we talked about how HARD stand-up was. When an audience member buys a ticket to go see a professional show, he/she is already in the mindset that this person on stage is going to be funny. There’s a full crowd, people are just getting off of work, everyones loosening up, it’s easier. Going up on open-mics to prove to people that you’re funny is much different. It’s after the show, there are maybe 7-10 people left in the audience and they’re either asleep or drunk. It’s soul crushing to go up there and work hard on a joke that you think is funny and all you get are crickets. Yet we saw the same people go up there multiple nights a week and hoping to get their big break in comedy. This unexpected venture of mine made me grateful that stand-up is not something I’m pursuing as a career and made me admire and respect anybody who is.

My stand up comedy buddy and I decided on a whim to take a road trip to Santa Barbara. We just wanted to go since we’d never been. I had a close friend up there who had a couch big enough for two girls looking for a good time. We met her roommates who were some of the most spiritual people I had ever met. Specifically, two sisters who had flown out for school to Santa Barbara from North Carolina. They were such beautiful people inside and out. You never know when you’ll meet someone who makes you feel like you’re safe and at home. Those two sisters whom I only spent three days with will forever leave a mark in my life as a reminder of self love and giving love and positivity to others.

Our warm and welcoming host had a friend who spontaneously decided to take us camping up in the mountains. As I had never been camping before, I was quite hesitant. I didn’t want to go and actually petitioned not to. In return, a few friends said that if I wasn’t going, they weren’t either. Forced to change my mind, I left my phone on the charger at the house, slipped on my birkenstocks and just sat in the car. To summarize the rest of our night, we found a piano 4,000 ft up in the mountains and two best friends who were just organically playing guitar to the light that Santa Barbara emitted below us. The surreality of the entire night and the thought that I almost missed this by choosing to stay at home brought me to tears. I looked up to the sky and just said “thank you” to whoever or whatever allowed me to be so fortunate.

This past summer my cousins from India came to the United States for the first time and although I was familiar with them, I got to know them really well as they spend a few nights at our house. We went paddle boarding, kayaking, biking, and clubbing here in San Diego. Ironically, it was their first time doing any of these things and after 18 years of living in San Diego, it was my first time too. The best part of it all was doing all these activities in the right company. I thank my stars that I live in such a beautiful city that has so much to offer.

I never ended up taking classes this summer. I didn’t get off the waitlist to be an RA. I got my double piercing, added a ton of blonde highlights in my hair that my parents persistently asked me to remove, and started playing the piano again. I went to Lake Tahoe with my family and got to spend quality time with three people who are always on different schedules than each other.

They say the good things take time, but great things happen in a blink of an eye. This summer felt like it went by in a blink of an eye and little did I expect the experiences that will forever leave a lasting impact on my life. For those experiences and the many people who made them possible, I am thankful for you. I have learned to always try and keep an open mind and to just do it because you never know just what might come out of it.