Hi, guys. Long time no see. Today was the first day of class and I am currently sitting in my dorm room writing a blog post after about a month and a half. Before I get back into the swing of things, I owe you a life update because a lot has happened since June.
//Why I’ve Been Gone + What I’ve Been Up To
The biggest reason is that I’ve been busy. Sure, I haven’t had a lot of motivation to write, but the fact I had no time was the most impactful. July was such an insane and fun month. The last time I posted was my July 2018 Goals post, but I didn’t complete a single goal because I was spending so much time doing other stuff. I ended up getting a most of the goals done in the first week of August.
My Childhood Best Friend Moved Back To America
A few days after posting that, my childhood best friend, Deya, FINALLY moved back to Atlanta, which has been a long time coming. I was actually the one who picked her up at the airport, which is its own type of weird. When did I become old enough to pick someone up from the airport alone?
She kept saying that she couldn’t process that she was in America because I had picked her up since we had seen each other in Bangladesh and in Canada in the last six months.
After I picked her up, we went to the house she was staying at and hung out there. A lot of other family friends came and we stayed up talking. There’s a picture above.
The family she was staying with went on vacation three days later, so Deya spent a week at my house. This was a lot of fun, but you all probably know that having a guest doesn’t make you the most productive human. There wasn’t an appropriate time for me to sit at my desk for a few hours to write a blog post, which is why I couldn’t write that week.
We did a lot of fun stuff during her stay. My uncle had a barbecue during the World Cup Finale, we went to the pool, my cousins slept over, we went to the movies…it was a very fun filled week. We even spent the night at another friend’s house. The four of us legit stayed up until 5 AM talking. It was fun.
We did productive things too like open her bank account, but we mostly just had fun.
I Volunteered As A Counsellor For Special Needs Kids
I had maybe one free day after Deya left and I’m pretty sure I had work that day too. In high school, I interned at a company that works with special needs kids. It was amazing and I have been volunteering there every year since I was fourteen.
It’s a day camp for special needs kids and their siblings. There’s a morning session and an afternoon session. Most volunteers are assigned to one session, but I was assigned to both, so I was there from 9 to 4 every day, with a one-hour lunch break in between. I had so much fun. The kids were sweethearts and there were fun activities each day. A magician came one day and he actually did some new tricks. They’ve used the same magician for years, so I”ve seen most of his tricks at least 10 times. Another day, they brought in a bunch of specially trained dogs for the kids to play with. These were really well-trained dogs. Like, a kid put his fist into one’s mouth (it was a really big dog) and it didn’t bite.
I’ve been a camp counselor there before, so this wasn’t anything new, but I was still very tired by the end of the day. Even so, after camp, I’d go home for fifteen minutes, then leave again for work. By the time I got home, I was too exhausted to blog and wanted to spend time with my family.
I Sang In A Show
If you follow me on Instagram, you know this already. There’s an organization called FOBANA (Federation Of Bangladeshi Associations In North America) that puts on a function every summer in a different city in the U.S. or Canada. This year, it was held in Atlanta. It’s a huge event that lasts all weekend. There are shows, a science fair, an art gallery, so many people were involved and everyone was dressed up like they were going to a wedding. I sang in the show on Friday. I didn’t sing solo (which I haven’t done on stage since I was fifteen). There was a whole group of other people. We sang a bunch of Bangla songs, then I spent the rest of the night talking to people. I didn’t get home until 2 AM.
The reason this prevented me from blogging was that I had rehearsal 3-4 times a week and along with everything else going on, I had no time.
In Conclusion…
I was busy. It was the fun type of busy but busy nonetheless. I had to prioritize other things over blogging, which is okay. I think the biggest milestone here is that I didn’t feel guilty about that. I was able to enjoy everything without thinking about the one thing I couldn’t do.
The last month has pretty much been what summer vacation is supposed to be like. It’s hard to believe that I only have one more summer break before I graduate. I did so much stuff. I went to the mall, the movies, I played laser tag with my high school friends, I hung out with my extended family, went to the Taylor Swift concert…it was such a great month.
//Moving Update
I haven’t posted this anywhere yet, but this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise because you knew this one coming: I moved out of my childhood home about three weeks ago. I live in a suite on campus at my new University and I really like it. It’s pretty big and there’s a wall of windows, which is a huge plus for me. My roommate is awesome and I really like living away from home. I’ll do a whole update about leaving my special needs sibling later because that is going to be a very emotionally draining post, which is something I don’t want to get into right now.
Anyway, since moving out, more family has visited, so I’ve been going back and forth a few times to go see them. I’m also taking five classes with two labs (17 credit hours), which I’ve done before, but it’s still a lot, so I just haven’t made time for blogging. I’ve barely made time for the, albeit optional, homework.
I guess that’s all the updates. I’ll write more about moving out and living in a dorm soon, but I thought I owed you an explanation for my hiatus. Until, next time.
How was your summer? How have your first weeks of school been?