My Last Semester at Kent + What's Next

A little over a week ago, all of the boxes from my small studio had either been methodically packed into my car or shipped, and I left Ohio for the last time for the foreseeable future. Which was a weird feeling after having gone back and forth between Lafayette and Ohio for the past three and a half years. But after what feels like three and a half years of chaos, I've graduated a semester early with a degree in Fashion Merchandising with minors in Fashion Media and Marketing and a final GPA of 3.959.

When thinking about this semester, the first thoughts that come to mind revolve around chaos, group projects, and exhaustion. While there were plenty of positive moments, by the end I was so ready to be done with everything that I felt like I barely had time to enjoy it. But during this semester I also kept busy. I got a part time job at Anthropologie, which was an absolutely amazing experience, and was one of the harder parts of leaving. I was also taking five courses including Fashion Publishing, Fashion Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Apparel in the Global Economy and Fashion Seminar, which is the capstone course.

This is the cover of my Final Portfolio

My two favorite courses were Fashion Publishing and the Seminar course, but I was so surprised by how many group projects I had this semester. One class, Social Media Marketing, had five group assignments and projects that we completed with the same group, while another had two projects to be completed with a partner; a third class had a final project that was a group project. These were particularly hard to coordinate as we were all very busy with our own jobs and other classes.

But with the semester complete and group projects done, everyone wants to know: what's next? And right now, the next step is to get my life together. Over my time at Kent, I've gone between the two states driving at least 17 times. I've lived at my mom's house, in a dorm, an apartment in Kent, a house in Louisiana, an apartment in Louisiana, a studio in Kent, and an apartment in New York. For the first time in 3.5 years all of my belongings are under one roof. As a fashion major, I have clothes galore, most of which I don't really need to keep anymore. So right now, I'm cleaning out my closet (I started this process this week), I'm catching up on some other work, and I'm taking care of my mental health. And perhaps most importantly, I am taking time to decide what I want to do next and where I want to be.

But here's to figuring life out I guess!