• 2016: A Year In Review
• 2017: A Year In Review

//Overall Thoughts On 2018//

2018 was an amazing year. I accomplished a lot. I started making a more consistent income and became more financially stable. I transferred to another university (a goal for this year that I didn’t announce publicly) and moved out after living with my parents during my first two years of college.

With all the good, there was still some bad. My health completely tanked this year. I joked to my friends that it was the universe’s way of telling me I shouldn’t have gotten my own health insurance. I went to the doctor’s a lot to the point where the receptionist asked me, “what’s wrong this time?” the last time I went to the doctor (when my cousin threw a medicine ball at me and jammed my finger). I got bronchitis during finals week near the beginning of the year, a piece of my tooth broke off in March and I had to get a root canal, my vitamin levels were low, etc. Those would’ve all been fine if it weren’t for the chronic back pain.

Last Christmas, when I was in Bangladesh, I started experiencing a dull pain in my lower back whenever I sat down. It would get worse and worse and would spread down to my legs. This persisted for a few weeks. Even when I got back home. It got to the point where I couldn’t focus in class because I was in so much pain. I went to the doctors for months and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I was misdiagnosed and they just kept prescribing me pain pills (that didn’t work). FINALLY, an MRI confirmed that a disc in my spine had moved five millimeters and pressed against some nerves in my back whenever I sat down. I did physical therapy all summer, but the pain hasn’t gone away. It’s just become more manageable because of the back brace they gave me. You can probably read through the whole saga looking back at old blog posts, so I won’t elaborate too much now.

I don’t know how to transition from that. Despite all my health problems, this year was really great. There were lots of positive life changes and I was much more present throughout the year to enjoy all of it. Without further ado, let’s get into the recap.

 

---

//Things That Happened//

I change the format of how I do these “Year In Reviews” every year. I guess it’s because every year has had different highlights. I decided to write this one in chronological order, giving highlights from every quarter. I hope you enjoy.

First Quarter//January-March

I Came Home From Bangladesh – I rung in the New Year in Chittagong, Bangladesh with my cousins. We had a huge party and danced until 2 AM. I caught a stomach bug on January 1st along with all my other cousins (cousin goals?), but I felt better within a day. We went to the beach on January 2nd, and I flew to Dhaka on January 3rd. I spent time with my family there until arriving back in Atlanta on January 5th.

My Back Pain Started – My back pain actually started on Christmas of last year, but it wasn’t as noticeable until January. The flight back to the U.S was pretty miserable because I had to sit for hours at a time on the plane. (It also took three flights to get back, so I mastered navigating airports.) Once school started, it became clear that I needed to go to the doctors as soon as possible, and that’s when the whole debacle of being misdiagnosed started.

I Went To Canada For Spring Break – This was definitely a huge highlight of the year. In March, I visited my cousin and my friend in Toronto for five days. It was my second time out of the country, which was super exciting. I got to visit Niagara Falls and explore the city of Toronto. I will write a blog post about it eventually, so stay tuned.

Oher Fun Stuff:

• I got my first massage while in Dhaka.
• I watched the Broadway shows “The Lion King” and “Rent” in January and February.
• My brother and I rewatched every Marvel movies before Infinity War was released.

Second Quarter//April-June

Got Accepted Into The College I Transferred To – I got accepted into the college I am currently attending in April. I had already gotten accepted in high school, so I wasn’t surprised. It was still a happy occasion.

Started Making A More Regular Income (Business Goals) – I definitely started working more and making a consistent liveable income in late spring, which is one of the biggest reasons I was able to move out.

My Cousins From New York Visited For Eid – The last time I saw them was in New York in the summer of 2016, so it was fun to spend the holiday with them. Especially since they haven’t come to Atlanta since 2008.

The Doctor’s Figured Out What Was Wrong With My Back – I got an MRI in late May and the doctors figured out that the disc in my back had moved. I was so relieved when I got an actual diagnosis. At that point, I would’ve been relieved if they told me it was cancer because at least I would’ve known what was wrong with me and what to do about it. I started physical therapy that summer.

Other Fun Stuff:

• Infinity War!!!
• We threw my friend Feza a surprise party.
• I got on the Dean’s List.

Third Quarter//July-September

Deya Came Back To America – My childhood best friend moved to Bangladesh when we were ten and finally came back in July of this year. Since I was the one who picked her up at the airport (which was a weird feeling since it was very “adult”), she said she couldn’t process that she was in America because she had just seen me in Canada and Bangladesh. That was the start of a very fun summer. We hung out almost every day.

I Moved Out – This was a huge highlight of 2018 and I must say that I love living on my own. I miss my family, but that’s mostly because of Mysoon. I wish that I lived closer, but I know that my parents would not be okay with me moving out if my university was in a closer location, so that saved me a lot of battles. I’ve written about this a few times already, so I won’t go into it here. It was a transition near the beginning, but the good heavily outweighs the bad.

A Bunch Of My Cousins Visited In August – The month I moved out was also the month a lot of family members visited, which made it a very crazy month for me. I went back home in the middle of the week multiple times in order to maximize my time with all of them. It was wonderful to be together again since large get-togethers like that usually only occur at weddings, so I’m happy I prioritized seeing them, even though I was super burned out by September.

Other Fun stuff:

• Lots of summer sleepovers
• My cousins and I had a barbecue during the World Cup
• I sang in a show.
• I volunteered as a camp counselor for special needs kids;
• My friends and I went to the Taylor Swift concert

Fourth Quarter//October-December

Homecoming Week – This was the first Homecoming week where I could actually enjoy all the activities. Since I live on campus now, I could easily go out at night and attend all the events. I really enjoyed myself.

I Threw A Halloween Party – My mom used to go all out for Halloween and throw a huge party for all out friends. That stopped once we got older, but Halloween is still one of my favorite holidays. I hadn’t celebrated it in so long, but this year, my closest friends and I had a Harry Potter themed Halloween party at my house. It was a lot of fun. I wore a Wonder Woman costume. My friend asked me to because she was dressing up as Ms. Marvel. Otherwise, my costume would’ve been something a bit simpler (I’m glad it wasn’t)

My 21st Birthday – I turned 21 in November, and this year was one of those years that my birthday didn’t fall on Thanksgiving break, so I had school that day. It didn’t really feel like my birthday because I’m so used to not having any school or work on it, but I still had fun. I had breakfast with my parents before driving the hour back to campus and had dinner with one of my best friends.

Trip To Tennessee & Chicago – I just came back from a trip to Tennessee and Chicago. My family and I spent a few days at my cousin’s house in Tennessee, then went to Chicago for a few days. We had never been before and I got to cross off two states off my list (Illinois and Indiana), so I’ve officially been to 25 out of 50 states. We mostly visit the same places multiple times, like New York and Florida, so it was a nice change of pace.

Other Fun Stuff:

• Thanksgiving and Winter Break
• Finishing 80 books in a year
• My parents’ 25th Anniversary

---

This year was really amazing. Even though I didn’t blog as much this year, I can tell you that I did a lot in my day-to-day. There were a lot of fun little moments in between the big ones and I want to make more time for recreation in 2019. T

his year has gone by very slowly, but January 1st simultaneously feels like yesterday because a lot has happened in the last 365 days. (And I mean A LOT. There are plenty of things I didn’t tell you.) I’m excited about what next year brings.

I’ll be publishing my 2019 goals tomorrow, so stay tuned!

I’d Appreciate Your Support Of This Blog By Following Me On:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Blog Lovin’

What were some of your highlights of 2018? What are you most looking forward to next year?