The Most Magical Trip of the Year + a Life Update

Hey ya'll it has been a while. A lot has changed in my life since the last time I wrote, and I thought I would do a little updating.

For starters, I am back on American soil (in case that was not clear) and I just finished my first semester of my second year of college. Fall semester flew right on by and impacted me in more ways than one. After coming back from the adventure of a lifetime, I decided to change my major to focus more on my creative abilities. I can happily declare my love for the Communications department on campus, more specifically the Mass Comm department. I have also stumbled upon an array of people with different personality types and wonderful energies. Namely Evelyn, Tori, Amorae, Obie, Russ, Reagan, Kristina, Gerald and everyone else that I look forward to seeing and cracking jokes with. I am getting closer to finding my tribe every day, but who's to say it cannot include people from all over?

Aside from the major change, my academic life is mostly the same. I am still classified as a junior, I am still on track to graduate in May 2021 (one class pending- more on that in a bit), and I still work on campus... just not for The Panther Newspaper. A lot of this information is not shocking considering I disliked the intro class for my previous major and my heart broke a little bit more after each class. Same goes for newspaper- I loved it in the beginning, got more involved, then began to dread going. That's life I suppose. Now, I eagerly await spring semester to begin my mass comm classes and I love going to work at The Writing Center (even when it gets packed).

Some other exciting things that are happening now or have happened recently include getting more involved with the Honors Program. This past semester we went on a field trip as a cohort to the Menil (museum of fine art), and then selected a piece to write one of three precis about. We also had to create an art piece for our Honors final, and I created the most extraordinary piece which can be viewed on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (links on blog). My piece was titled "Beauty" and was about colorism, feminism, Blackness, and beauty standards- check it out.

The close of this semester also brought back the desire to travel the world and roam (Rome) free. I am happy to announce that plans are in the works to study abroad in Mexico this summer with the Honors Program, and Greece this upcoming fall semester with ISA. I also recently traveled to Orlando, Florida, with my father and brother to traipse around Disney World, which is what the bulk of this post will be about. Disney magic withstanding (ha!) I also learned and grew a lot this semester, more than I knew was necessary.

Many of you may remember everything that unfolded at the end of the previous spring semester, and how that impacted me during my time abroad. I am happy to announce that I am still healing, and that I have accepted that it may take more than a few months for my heart to beat normally again. Dealing with the heartbreak from the spring is still challenging, but I continue to pray and ask God for healing and the return of my joy. As you all know, love is not always as easy as it should be, and sometimes we may pour love into the wrong people. I am not saying that he was the wrong person by any means, but I should have been pouring more love into myself which is what I spent the entirety of fall semester doing.

Fall semester was definitely one for the books. I took 18 credit hours, rough but I got a 4.0, and I stumbled over my words every time I was asked "what do you want to do with your life?" That dreaded question caused more than one anxiety attack this semester, and I am happy to announce that I still have. no. idea. HA! I am definitely closer than I was at the beginning of this year, but it may take another one or two or three to get it right.

Now, with all the catching up out of the way, who wants to hear about Disney World?

For starters, I had the most incredible time of my entire existence, minus all of the bickering that comes along with family vacations. I had not seen my dad since my high school graduation (a year and some change), and I was thrilled to spend the most magical weekend with him and my brother. I told them that I appreciated the experience more as a 19-year-old than I would have as a nine-year-old, because the Disney app saves lives. We were able to do everything from the app- pick our fast passes, locate the princesses, order food, view wait times, etc. it was heaven sent. I cannot even imagine the agony of missing my favorite princess because I couldn't find her (talking about you, Princess Tiana).

We spent all day Saturday (literally 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.) at Disney's Magic Kingdom, and I swear there were big girl tears. I have not been that happy since seeing the Eiffel Tower (iykyk) and seeing it with my favorite guys made it even better. I did not realize just how similar my brother and I are, nor how eerily similar my father and I are. I have always been a "daddy's girl," but I didn't realize that I am literally a mini version of my dad. Y'all don't even want to know how long it took us to find the rental car after we loaded up at Applebee's and Walmart. There were also plenty of "jinx" moments where we mirrored each other's thoughts. I love that guy. Also shout out to all the Disney dads who have to deal with screaming, crying, tired, hungry children! Y'all are the real MVPs, especially the ones carrying their sleeping children, hoisting little ones on their shoulders, and dealing with other childhood tomfoolery. The Disney moms rock too, especially the ones who did all of the above, alone.

Magic Kingdom was filled with wonder. I could have spent the rest of my life there and been perfectly content. The food was great (looking at you churro, pizza, and pretzel pictures), the people were so kind (thankful to the man who let me see four princesses without waiting in line because it was our first Disney visit), and the photo-ops were otherworldly. I am grateful to my dad and brother Joshua for taking a million photos of me in front of the castle, eating Mickey shaped pretzels, and fangirling over Rapunzel, Cinderella, Princess Tiana, and Mickey's gang. I adored every moment spent at the "happiest place in the world", but the Frozen Fireworks Show takes the cake. The amount of gasping and near crying that took place after laying eyes on Elsa, Ana, Olaf, and Kristoff, is frightening. I almost descended into the unknown (iykyk). The show was breathtaking and ELSA MADE IT FREAKING SNOW!! Disney World brings out the kid in everyone, even my father, who is in his fifties and was even more geeked than me over Goofy, Donald, Minnie, and Daisy. We also saw Pooh, Tigger, Buzz, and a few other famous characters.

We spent the following day at Hollywood Studios (verryyy different than Universal Studios in case you were wondering- not that we had a mix up after massages and ubered to the wrong place.... right?). The massages we got before the mix up that we didn't make (right?) were heavenly. I had never received a massage before, and now I need one every day. Anyways, Hollywood Studios was pretty great too (although nothing beats Magic Kingdom). The rides were insane, the food was wonderful (minus a mishap with some thick vegan chili), and aside from a ride catching fire, it was a pretty good time.

A mini vacation with two of my favorite people, after grinding my way through an 18 credit hour semester, was just what I needed. Magic Kingdom will always have my heart, but my dad is a close second (just kidding dad, you are my number one). I am thankful to my wonderful father and his girlfriend Leslie for the best Christmas/early birthday gift, a bunch of young adults with kid-sized hearts could ask for. Cheers to making dreams come true the Walt Disney way.

Until next time, antio sas! (Greek for goodbye, iykyk).