I recently graduated college, and one of the things I think I learned during my four years at [REDACTED], it was to be more aware of what I want. In high school, I focused almost solely on academics - what classes to take, what extracurriculars to do, how to maximize my chances of getting into a good college. I even had a rotation of items in my head of things to do when I was bored (do I have math homework? history homework? physics homework? etc etc). However, in college, my priorities shifted. I actually got a social life? My grades slipped a bit, but that was surprisingly fine to me - the time I could have spent studying for that biology test would not have been worth it. But anyways, I got a lot of friends, and I am fortunate enough to have a job lined up after this summer ends. A lot of them will be close to where I will be working post-grad too (I'm living with four of them). My goals shifted and I learned more about myself than I did in high school.
That said, over the past year, I realized I need to be more intentional about what I do. I can't just follow the crowd and do what everybody else does. So, I hosted some friend group events, auditioned for that student-written musical, got a punch card at a boba shop that I went to more times than I'd like to admit. For my last semester, I even tried to do a "first" each day. It didn't have to be big, it could be something small as eating something new, going to a new shop, or starting a new TV show. But it had to be intentional. I ended up doing it every day for the semester (and after, at least up to today, May 31, 2025). It did make each day more novel and interesting. It also helps me avoid getting into a rut.
Today, I went on a walk outside and called my friend. At some point, she asked "dude, what's that sound?" I didn't understand what she was referring to, but then I realized she was talking about the birds chirping outside. Now, I'll be honest, I didn't notice the birds until she pointed them out. I'm not sure if I got used to them, or if I always had my airpods in whenever taking solo walks, but that interaction made me realize that I do need to pay attention to the world around me and be aware of what's happening. So, I'm going to try to do just that - go on walks without airpods, try to sit not in front of a screen and just soak in the surroundings. We'll see how it goes.