About two years ago, I was sitting here at my computer writing my first article for the Odyssey. I was a young First-Year student, full of life and ambition, just waiting to spark my academic passions and meet my future bridesmaids. Fast forward a couple of years and here I am a tired, coffee-driven Junior in college who has switched her major four times and added a few minors here and there. While I may be less enthusiastic, I am equally as ambitious and am now here to update all of my past faithful-followers of my whereabouts in the world.

So, last time I checked in with you guys, I was a Marketing major...and to that, I sit here and laugh. Business was certainly not meant for me and let's just say Accounting was definitely not in my repertoire of skills. I quickly realized this and switched back to my trusty major in English Literature. Along the way, I found that my passions lay within the realm of studying humans, which is why I decided to tack on a minor in Anthropology. Because of my constant switching and desire to learn SO much about the many different fields of work (I have spent time in almost every college at my University... Health Sciences, Business, Liberal Arts, you name it), I wound up taking a whopping 19 credit hours and ~barely~ survived but I made it! Next semester I am looking forward to a more manageable load of 15 credit hours in classes that I truly enjoy and look forward to taking!

While I was in a sorority when I last left, I have entered many more social groups and have been able to expand my social circles and in turn, I have gained so many new friends! Since joining Greek life, I took a position as Director of Philanthropy in my house, which just recently came to an end. This position taught me amazing time management skills, gave me a taste of the stress that event planners feel on a daily basis, and by the end of my time, I had put on five awesome events to raise money for Cardiac Care research which is pretty cool! Being involved in the Greek community led to me recently accepting a position on the National Panhellenic Council executive board on campus which will be starting at the New Year! On top of this exciting new addition to my social life, I have also started working in the Writing Center on my campus where I help fellow students to grow in their writing skills and improve their academic work. Through this opportunity, I have gained handfuls of new coworkers who listen to my constant rants about my stress, drink lots of coffee with me, and make me laugh a ton. Getting further into my high-level English classes, I have made a solid group of English-nerd friends who support my panic attacks about 16-page papers and have discussions with me about Feminist poetry. Needless to say, Freshman-Year Carli would be very relieved to hear that her circle of three friends has expanded by leaps and bounds!

As far as the future goes, I am hoping to spend more time taking care of my physical and mental health in the New Year. Being so busy and on-the-go all of the time, I haven't been able to dedicate the necessary amount of time for self-care. I am still fairly uncertain about what my career path holds so, for now, I am covering my bases and putting out feelers in the field of law, the profession of teaching, and possibly even the realm of writing! What I do know is that I am very excited to get back to writing for the Odyssey and can't wait to see what 2020 holds for me! Thanks for catching up and making me feel relevant again, that's all for now!