A New Life in Washington, DC

Well everyone, after months and months of talking about it, several visits up here and a global pandemic (please read that last part in a sarcastic tone) later, I finally did it: I moved to Washington, DC. My amazing mom was here the first weekend to help me move into my tiny studio apartment, but after she left it has been just me, my thoughts and a new city for the past few days. 

After being here for about a week now, this next part of my life (hi, I was supposed to start graduate school today) seems a little bit more tangible than it did two months ago when everything was 100% uncertain. Now I would say that one idea I say to myself constantly is that the only thing that is certain in our world right now is the amount of unknown we have yet to go through. 

Now that I am alone and have wedged my foot slightly into the door of "adulthood", I am hyperaware of the new reality that I am and will be challenged with. The past few months has changed every single part of my life, not to mention the entire world and the way that life once was. In every interview or application I have ever been through, I always find a way to talk about adaptability because I think one of my greatest skills is my ability to navigate through change with grace and ease. Certainly, these past few months have brought about the most astronomical amount of change I have ever been witness to, but what has made this kind of change so different is that in order to move forward it has been imperative that I am mindful to check in with myself in order to grow more effectively as a human who actively wants to be part of the new world.

Being in a new city like DC has been a good place for the start of this chapter, and in solitude nonetheless. I have ample amounts of time to learn about myself, about the world and about the ins and outs of a new place. In a life that was once characterized by chaos, movement, and constant hustle - these past few months have been a necessary pause on the way that life once was because it will never be like that again. 

Some other things that have been a part of my life in DC that would not have have had a place in my old life:

MASK WEARING, daily 5-8 mile walks while listening to political podcasts or audiobooks, regular watching of documentaries of all subjects, deep diving into scholarly articles about international relations or reading my finance textbook, professional development webinars from Georgetown University in all kinds of subjects or from the Fintech Hub at Wake Forest School of Business in Charlotte, applying for jobs in retail on M street as a way to meet people and pass the time, decorating my apartment and creating a space that reflects a snapshot of my personality, 10:00 PM bedtime :)

Thank you for taking the time to read a little bit more about what I've been up to, I am so looking forward to sharing more of my life here in DC!