I cannot believe that as I am writing this, we are at the end of 2021. So much has happened this year. I truly feel that 2021 was two completely different years - there’s “college” and then “post-grad”.
In the past 6 months, I became a college graduate and have moved to a brand new city, started a job, and made a completely new set of friends.
Here are 21 Memorable Moments of 2021:
1) Graduating from the University of Michigan
This was definitely not the way I envisioned how I would be graduating college but I had a fun time celebrating graduation in a multitude of ways. Our school allowed graduating seniors to take pictures on the field at the Big House.
We also were able to watch the commencement ceremony in the Big House. It wasn’t the most proper ceremony, but I was still happy that we got an opportunity to celebrate with our friends in some capacity!
2) Buying my first car
I bought my first car in 2021! This was exciting because this car is truly my own. In high school and college, I shared a car with my brother.
3) Going to California
I haven’t been to California since I was 12 years old, so I was excited to come visit one of my good friends Kate in her hometown. I was also very excited to just travel and go on an airplane for the first time in over a year!
4) Seeing childhood friends
When I was in California, I got to see my childhood friends, Chris and Cori (who I haven’t seen in person since I was 12!). They drove 1.5 hours to come see me when I was visiting Kate. I was truly touched by this gesture.
5) Going to Hawaii for the first time
I have an entire Hawaii blog post, but going to Hawaii was truly one of my highlights of 2021. It was definitely a well deserved post-grad trip and Hawaii has been a place that I have always wanted to visit.
6) Going surfing for the first time
I tried a lot of things for the first time in Hawaii and surfing was one of them. It really is such a good arm workout.
7) Going snorkeling for the first time
Snorkeling was something else that I tried for the first time in Hawaii. I loved seeing all the pretty fish in Molokini Crater!
8) Becoming a Yelp Elite Member
This was something that I didn’t plan. But I started doing my research and thought becoming a Yelp Elite member would be really cool since I love trying new restaurants and coffee shops.
Since becoming Yelp Elite, I have been invited to some fun events, gotten free food/drinks, received a makeup/salon experience, etc.
9) Seeing Louis the Child
I love EDM and had a fun time going to this concert with my friends. I was in the pit!
10) Going to Chicago
I had an itch to travel and decided to visit my brother and friends in Chicago in August. It felt really nice to see my college friends and reconnect with all of them! I have a blog post that recaps my first trip to Chicago.
11) Seeing Chelsea Cutler
I LOVE Chelsea Cutler and I was excited to finally see her in concert. I bought my ticket for this concert back in June. I went with a group of friends who were excited to see Tai Verdes and Quinn XCII.
12) Meeting Governor Gretchen Whitmore
This was the most random thing ever. I went downtown Ann Arbor with my family during the fall when I came home one week and the governor happened to have an event at Bill’s Beer Garden, which is one my favorite places in Ann Arbor.
13) Going to my first football game since 2019
I decided to come home for the Rutgers football game because it was Homecoming! A bunch of people I knew were coming back for this game so it naturally made sense to also come back.
14) Going to North Carolina
I call this mini trip a hometown date because I was able to visit one of my best friends, Christy, in her hometown. I have an entire blog post where I share some of my highlights from this trip.
15) Halloweekend in Chicago
I was super busy in October. As soon as I came back from North Carolina, I was already getting ready for my next trip to Chicago! My brother and some friends were having a Halloween party and I thought it was the perfect excuse to come visit Chicago again.
16) Spending time with Amy in Chicago
One of the reasons I was excited to come back to Chicago was because I had a whole day planned to spend with my friend Amy. We haven’t had quality time together in over a year because of the pandemic. I saw her briefly the first time I was in Chicago in August but it was only for 30 minutes.
We spent the whole day together and went to Shedd Aquarium and went shopping afterwards.
17) Finally getting a TV
This might seem kind of random, but I finally got a TV for my apartment. Having a TV is such a gamechanger and I don’t know how I lasted this long without one…
18) Winning our first volleyball game
I am part of a volleyball recreational league and my friends and I finally won our first game! It was such a momentous occasion.
19) Christmas Lights with friends
I love spending time with my girlfriends in Indy! We all went to the Christmas Lights at Newfields. The lights are beautiful! But honestly I don’t think it’s worth the $26 ticket….. It took me less than an hour to walk around and see all the lights.
20) Going to the B10 Championship Game and winning!
This was truly one of the highlights of 2021. Everyone was still on a high from Michigan beating OSU a week prior. I was so excited for this game for a number of reasons: it was in Indy, my entire family was coming to visit me and go to the game, and this is the first time that Michigan has gone to the B10 Championship.
Spoiler alert: we beat Iowa and are going to the Orange Bowl for a chance to play in the National Championship!
21) Ignite Event
This was a really fun event and nice way to wrap up the year in Indy. I got to dress up and wear my beautiful red dress that has been sitting in my closet for no joke, 2 years.
My engineering friends are part of an ERG that hosts events and they’re allowed to bring plus ones to events. So all my engineering friends brought the non-engineering friends to this event.
Everyone looked so nice and we all got to dress up and spend time together.
I can't wait to see what 2022 brings and am excited for the future. I am excited to travel and make new memories with both new and old friends!