A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

This was me last year, around September, or maybe it was October? Either way, that was last year.

Last year I was so excited about college. I made the best friends and had a great first semester. I was in a relationship with a guy who I truly believed was so amazing. I was happy, really happy. Then the semester ended and I found myself in a long distance relationship. It was truly hard always thinking about that person and wondering if anything was going to change because of the distance. Naturally, it did. I realized we were really different after all, wanting different things-- so we went our separate ways. And during that time I evaluated myself and at the end of last year, I made it my goal to better myself; to clean myself up spiritually and draw closer to the Lord.

Now this year. Well there's obviously the physical changes. My hair is a bit shorter and I think I grew like an inch, maybe. This year I've been through being angry with the world, being depressed, being stressed, I got my first job, I learned more about myself, I cleaned myself up with the Lord, I survived a semester without my friends, I grew closer to the Lord because of it, I did better in my classes than last semester, and I've gotten to know a pretty great person. I've learned to love myself more, and more importantly, to keep holding on when life gets hard, to somehow, through all the sadness that life can bring, to always keep a smile. I've learned to see things in an eternal perspective, to make decisions that will draw me closer to my goals. I've re-evaluated what I look for in a significant other, I've drawn important lessons from my past relationships, I've grown closer with my mom, and overall I've learned that everything has a reason.