ONE YEAR LATER, ONE YEAR WISER

A year ago same time, I was a nervous wreck. 

Fresh college graduate, all I had with me were hopes to be the best, dreams of success and a completely different life ahead.

I wasn’t ready for change, but I was prepared to adapt to it.

And adapt I did.

Tomorrow I complete a year at my first job. And what a year it was; a year that made me strong, determined and ambitious.

Back as a student, I was carefree. Unaware of what is in store for me in the future, I was living life every moment like there is no going back. I had friends, a great social life and a definite nonchalant attitude to academics. Independence, self-sustainability, maturity and decision making were few heavy words that were thrown at me to scare me and to make start gearing up for the “Big Bad World”

I had dreams but of a different kind. Dream of starting my own blog, dream of opening up a nail art parlour, dream of travelling with friends around the world and what not.

I never worried about anyone else except me. For me, I was the most important being on this planet.

And now here I am, one year old as a corporate professional earning decent enough to survive. I still have friends, a normal social life and now a definite future planned in my head. Independent, matured (slightly) and better at making “life-changing” decisions, I am still learning how to stay alive in this world.

I am learning every day, every minute, every second.

This year taught me more lessons than any lectures of college.

I learnt failure, tasted success, made new friends, lost few more, cried, repented, laughed and lived.

If there is anything that this one year taught me, it is that life is unpredictable; challenges are bound to be thrown right at your face. There will be a time when you will doubt yourself, when you will be forced to face your worse fears as well. But that is exactly what makes living worth it.

Someone last year, just before my joining, told me, that I am a fearless confidence woman; that I can achieve anything if I have the heart to do it.

And I guess I am on my way to doing something, achieving what I want to and excelling in what I do.

So this year is not just to discovering a better me, it is also to the friends and the bonds I made in a year. To the friendships that lasted beyond college life and also in memory to the friends who distanced themselves over course of time. Coz as Stephen Chbosky said, “Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.”

And now the following paragraph is dedicated to my super crazy 'Mandali'. We started together on a journey, as we stepped into the office and were termed as the campus hires. We broke the ice and behaved really nice until we got extremely comfortable with each other and in no time completed a year.

So this year is to all that madness, the silly pranks, the wonderful one month training where I made few everlasting friends (hopefully), to petty fights, to silly teasing, to random spontaneous plans, to well executed plans and to plans that never went past the planning phase (winks), to hopes and dreams alike, to Secret Sankrant, to birthday cakes, to gossip, to ‘very’ frequent coffee breaks, to the ‘family ties’ (twisted but Sanskaari) to being called kiddish, to acting kiddish, to growing up.

And finally to no more being a FRESHER…!