Junior year truly is the year of happenings, at least for me it feels that way.

You’re not a freshman anymore, feeling nervous about the new things the school has to offer, and you’ve settled even further into a routine than when you were a sophomore, but you’ve still got time to do cool things and make your life exciting, unlike if you were a senior getting ready to graduate soon. This semester is going to pose a huge challenge to me academically, emotionally, socially, and in every single aspect of my life. I’ve come to the point where I’ve taken a lot on my plate all at once, and now I have to do the magic of making it work in my favor. And to be quite honest, I feel like I'm finally ready. It’s going to be a lot, but I feel like everything that has led me to this point has prepared me well enough for the next step of the journey I'm going on.

This semester, if you see me you’ll probably see me running around like a chicken without its head, because of the many things I’ve taken on. But I know myself, and I know I work better under pressure and stress anyway, because then I don’t even have time to dilly-dally. I know this is how I’ve always worked best, and I'm sure anyone who has known me at any point in my life can attest to this. Between running to all my classes in my full schedule, and managing an internship, and working on weekends, while simultaneously balancing new challenges in my role here at the Odyssey, and being co-president to a reestablished organization-all while trying to look like a functional friend and student and perform daily life functions that are required of a human, I think I’ll look like a crazy person.

But that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. But don’t worry about me, because even if it sounds crazy, and like I’ll never get a chance to breathe or do anything for myself, I feel right about doing it all at this point in my life. I feel like this is what I’ve been working so hard for all this time, and now is my real chance to show the world what I'm made of. Crazy is a more fun way to live life anyway, it takes some of the seriousness out of it. Life ain’t that serious, don’t treat it that way. Everything will work out, I promise. It always works out. If I can figure out how to be a magician and pull off this crazy balancing act this semester, you can pull off whatever it is that you have to achieve this semester, this year, and this lifetime.

And even if your life is busy in different ways, whether it’s learning to love yourself, and knowing you’re whole on your own again, or learning to grow and change in a new friendship or relationship, or maybe you’re starting a new chapter entirely from a clean slate- just know that you can make it happen. You can change the world if that’s what you want to do. And contrary to popular belief, the changes you make don’t have to be giant to be important. You can start by treating yourself a little better, or being a friend when someone needs you to be, or even just smiling at a stranger who seems down, you’re making it happen. This isn’t really a new year’s vibe, but more of a lifestyle vibe. Just give yourself little goals and count your little victories just as much as huge ones, because they’re still victories nonetheless. This time in your life may be crazy, and it may feel like you took on more than you can handle, but you’re doing great. So here’s to making it happen this time around-whatever “it” may be.