Hello dears, it’s Kayli. (:

So my summer is pretty much over. Classes start Thursday and I’m headed back to the desert; which I’m not sure how I feel about yet. On the one hand it’ll be nice to get back into the swing of things down there and my friends but on the other hand, my heart is in this little valley, and it’s always tough to leave it behind. So I wanted to write a little bit about what these three months have been to me and how I feel about school.

First and foremost, this summer has been a learning experience. When I left to come home in May I had a feeling that this summer would be important, and I was right. I’m right in the middle of this whole “Who am I? What do I really want? What would make me really happy? How do I get there?” stage. And I pretty much wing it everyday because I don’t really know what I’m doing… Which I’m hoping I’ll grow out of. (It isn’t like this forever right? Eventually I’ll kind of get it figured out?) In the last little bit I’ve learned so much about myself. I still don’t have all the answers of course, and I may not ever have all of them, but I know more about who I am. This summer I took all of these projects, all of these chores and ideas and found pieces of myself within them.

Like cleaning out my house and taking care of my own yard. Planting flowers and moving bricks and mowing the grass.

            

I learned a lot sitting there on that little porch. More than any blog post would do justice to.

I learned to love and appreciate home more than ever before, because now I know what it’s like to be somewhere so different. I learned how much I love every mountain and every green field and every wildflower -because it’s not the same at school in the desert.

I think it’s funny how different this time in my life is than I had expected. I sort of figured it wouldn’t be all that different from high school in that I would feel the same and see things the same way. I knew it would be hard to get used to, I knew it would be at least a little different, but I didn’t know that it would so important for me spiritually and emotionally.  College isn’t all parties and making a million friends and skipping class for me- it’s been about meeting people that have already changed my life and creating new relationships with my friends from before. It’s about building my testimony and learning to be in a new, really big pond instead of the little one I was used to.

Which makes me wonder whether that’s common.

What was/is college (or whatever you chose to pursue at this age) like for you?

I feel like this period of my life is of a lot of consequence. The choices I make now and the lessons I learn now are and will be SO important. And I want to know if anyone else feels or felt that way too, or if anyone has any advice or stories about their own experiences at my age. I’d love you forever if you’d share.  (:

In the meantime I had a summer full of awesome experiences and I’m SO lucky.

I’ll let you know how it goes. (: