Monday #7 - New Beginnings

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Hello all,

It's been a while! Welcome back to one Monday at a time! I took the month of December off, as I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with exams and my internship. I am very excited to say that I have successfully completed my studies, earning Bachelor of Arts in both Public Relations and Communications Studies, with a focus in Public Communication and Persuasion. I walked on December 16, 2023, and was joined by my parents and many wonderful friends. I am going to walk again in the Spring (and hosting a party, which all of you are invited to, of course), but I wanted to walk in December because I've realized the importance of closing doors in order to start new beginnings. 

Covid was rough. It was rough for everyone. I didn't have a "normal" graduation, and instead of walking across the stage with my friends and family cheering, we had a masked-up, drive-in graduation. It was as special as an apocalyptic graduation could be, but as I crossed the stage and made my way through the sea of vehicles back to my family's Ford Explorer, I could help but feel like it wasn't over yet. And that feeling persisted, all throughout my online Freshman and Sophomore years at URI, where things returned back to normal, but things didn't feel quite normal. I still felt frozen in time, like I was the same person I was before the pandemic threw us all into a crazy whirlwind of a ride. I knew one thing for sure, I was going to walk across the stage when I graduated this time, no matter what. So, when URI announced that they were holding their first ever December commencement ceremony, I practically jumped to sign up. 

Recently, I have started a full time role as a Research Analyst at O'Neill Consulting, a practice within an executive recruitment and retainment firm, Acertitude. I have interned with this company since June of 2023, and I'm really enjoying it so far! I think it would feel a bit weird to start if I hadn't walked across the stage a couple weeks ago. A part of me still feels like I'm still in school, but it's definitely less intense than how it felt in 2020. Anyhow, I'm super excited to finally have a real salaried adult job, especially since it's the result of the hard work and dedication that I've shown over the past 3 and a half years. I think taking some time to reflect has allowed me to close the chapters that I've needed to end, and plant roots where I need to grow. Speaking of planting new roots, I am currently filling out my applications for grad school! I am visiting Miami in a couple weeks, and plan to visit Wilmington, NC sometime in the next couple months as well. Besides that, I am going to take this week to settle into my new role, and try to find my rhythm in my routine. What a great thing it is to have a new beginning, well, at least until the next one!

one Monday at a time,

Ethan

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