I graduated from college a little over three weeks ago.
It's still really weird to say. It still doesn't really even feel real. It probably won't feel real until fall hits and I don't go back to classes like I have for the last sixteen years of my life. But a little over three weeks ago, I walked across a stage with 6 of the other Horticulture graduates, shook the hand of the dean and my Plant Genetics professor, and just like that my undergraduate career was over.
Now what?
That's the question I've been asking myself for the last three weeks. I went back to my hometown for a while to help my family out with my sister's high school graduation among other things so I've had a lot of time to sit and mull that question over. And I've realized that, at this point, I don't know. I don't know what's next. And right now, I think that's okay. This summer, I'll be working part time as a gardener at a country club until anything full-time (either in hort or in some other field) rolls around. Otherwise I'll just be figuring out this new part of my life that is, frankly, sorta freaking me out right now.
This last semester was incredibly hard. There were points where I didn't think I'd graduate on time or even make it through the semester with the last shreds of my sanity. Thankfully, I've done both. But now that it's over, I think my brain needs some chill out time.
So what becomes of my blog? I've realized that maintaining a blog titled "The College Gardener" doesn't make a whole lot of sense once the author is no longer college. This blog has been with me since the beginning of my foray into horticulture and I've become so fond of writing here. But I think that now that college is over, it's time to move on to something different. But I definitely don't mean I'm going to stop blogging. On the contrary, I hope to blog more. But I've decided to retire this site and start up a new one, with a new name and a new platform. I've been working on it for the past few weeks and it's almost ready. Rest assured I'll be posting the link here and on my other social media outlets for everyone to find.
The new blog is going to be a bit different from this one. I'm hoping to focus a little more on my writing instead of simply relaying current events and projects like I did on this blog. It will also be on much broader of topics. Gardening and horticulture will still be large elements, but my passions for food and nature will not be ignored as much on the new blog. So look for that coming very soon.
So, for my penultimate post, I would just like to send a "Thank You" to anyone out there who has ever read this blog. Some of you may never see this thank you, but I don't mind. Doesn't matter if you've only stopped by once or if you've read every post (those of you who have, please let me know so I can thank you properly!!). You all have made this a spectacular journey.
Much Love,
Abby
