Hey friends, it’s been quite a while since I’ve published a chatty post, much less posted at all! Sorry for being so MIA recently – my life has been a little bit hectic. My Instagram hasn’t even been up-to-date which is very unlike me. I hope this post will be sufficient in explaining exactly where I’ve been for the past month, but if you have any questions for me be sure to leave them in the comments!
I’m home!
For those of you that were keeping up with my study abroad journey, you probably already know that I’ve been back in the US of A for almost an entire month now. If I’m being honest, I am so very happy to be home. I spoke pretty candidly about being homesick while I was in England, and it’s nice to be able to do all of the New Jersey things that I love so much. Sure, I miss some English things (late night chippy runs, anyone?), but home is where the heart is, after all.
Still, that doesn’t mean that being home has been all rainbows and sunshine. I think Caitlyn, my fellow Blogger Babe Abroad (hehe), expressed exactly how I’m feeling so eloquently in this post. Normal isn’t normal anymore, and that has been so weird for me coming back to the town I’ve lived in since I was two. I feel as though everything has simultaneously changed and stayed exactly the same all at once, and I just don’t fit in.
For starters, I was slightly lactose intolerant my first week home! I didn’t even realize what little dairy I was consuming in the UK until I came home and felt gross after eating a cheeseburger. Also, I still catch myself saying British-isms every once in a while – I looked at a price tag at the mall today and thought “pounds” instead of “dollars”, and I still say the word “toilet” instead of “bathroom”.
I (finally) started my summer internship!
Even though it’s been weird coming home and re-learning all of the things I took for granted, being busy with internship preparation has helped so much. I started my new job a week after I came home, and let me tell you, it was overwhelming. I’m interning at the same company I worked for last summer, but I moved departments, and the learning curve was pretty steep. I even completed a presentation on my second day of work!
This year’s internship is more design-focused, and I’m doing a lot more of what some could consider traditional “engineering”. I absolutely love my job, mostly because every day I’m given the opportunity to learn something new! I’ve gotten to learn a new modeling software, met so many new & inspiring people, and worked on projects that I am so excited about. I leave work every day with the affirmation that I’m doing something I’m passionate about, and I think that’s a super powerful way to feel! I’m almost at the halfway point of my internship which is really sad, but that’s just motivating me to make the most of this experience.
The only thing about being at work every day is that I don’t get to see my family as often as I would like. I try to go home during the weekends, but not being able to see my family even though I’m in New Jersey kind of stinks.
Final Thoughts
The coolest thing about having a blog is the ability to be flexible in putting content up, and I really didn’t want to put up a post I wasn’t 100% happy with just to have something up. Working at a 9-5 makes it kind of difficult for me to be consistent (I’ll be honest), but I promise I will do the best that I can. Let me know what kinds of posts you guys would like to see, and I’ll talk to you all very soon!
What have you been up to this past month?
