One year. Three hundred and sixty-five days. So much can happen in that time frame.

You see, one year ago tomorrow I had my very first day at my internship for my master’s program. I had been in DC for just ten days and basically did not know anyone.

Fast forward a year and so much has changed. I now have my own apartment with my roommate (so our own apartment) who happens to be the friend that I grew closest to over the last year in DC. On Monday I start my very first, career focused job. Tonight I look back on a year of friendship with someone who has come to mean a lot to me. A lot can change in three hundred and sixty-five days.

It still boggles my mind that we’re halfway through September. My roommate laughs at me because she claims that I can never believe that we are at any point in a month or year.

But it is so true. Time flies. I cannot believe that my one year of graduate school is already done and four months behind me. I cannot believe how much I have changed as a person. The last year has tested and pushed me in ways that I have never experienced before. It has been difficult and honestly I made a lot of decisions I wish I had not, but I have grown. I have grown so much and come out so much stronger. Not by my own doing of course.

I firmly believe in divine intervention. I believe in a God who has a purpose for everything and guides us through any and all circumstances. He has proven Himself time and time again to me. He proves Himself when I am not even looking for it. For example, tonight I was on my way home and decided to make a pit stop. I wanted to say hello to a friend I had not seen since April. While waiting for my friend, someone else came up to talk to me and in a matter of minutes had me talking to yet another person who was interested in volunteering with YoungLives. Anyone who knows me knows that I love YoungLives. It is one of my greatest passions. So, because of a last minute decision to stop and say hello, I got to talk about my passion to someone who wants to make it her passion. It is in those moments I feel Gods presence.

As I sit here at night in front of the World War II memorial, listening to the water fountains, I can’t help but reminisce over the last year. Today is a significant day to me. It really only means anything to me alone, but it marks the beginning of things so important to me. If a year ago today had not happened exactly as it did, I would be in a completely different place. My sentimental self is making a bigger deal of it than this day probably deserves, but that does not change how I feel about it. So, I’ll continue to reminisce until I feel that I have reminisced enough.