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20 Things I’ve Learned Before Turning 20 (Part Four)

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This is the final part of my 20 Things I’ve Learned Before Turning 20 series! If you missed Part One, Two, or Three, read those first, and don’t forget to follow this blog, Capturing College, for more helpful hints and advice.

16. Everyone is on a different path.

I struggle to remember that I can’t compare where I am at on my journey with other people’s journeys. We are all on our own journey and have our own struggles and trials, as well as our own successes and triumphs. Don’t compare your phase two with someone else’s phase four. Also, don’t compare your phase two to someone else’s phase one. Don’t go around thinking you are so much father ahead than someone else. You may just have an easier path now, and they may catch up or even pass you. Everyone is on a different journey, just be concerned with your own.

17. You can learn something from every situation.

No matter if it is the best scenario, or your worst nightmare, you can learn something from everything you experience in life. You woke up late and missed your first class? Maybe next time don’t stay up late studying and set multiple alarms. Your friend brought you coffee to work today? Maybe follow their example of kindness and bring them a treat next time you go out, or treat a random stranger by paying for their order at Starbucks. No matter how good or bad a situation is, you can always learn something from it.

18. Love everyone.

Life is too short to go around making people miserable. The world would be so much better if we all chose to love each other. Regardless of race, gender, religious beliefs, sexuality, or any trivial thing that may make someone different from you. Love them. Love everyone. Be kind to others.

19. Take risks.

There are two things I have struggled with since I was a child. One is making fast decisions, and the other is taking risks. Ironically, those two things kind of go hand in hand on a fairly frequent basis. When I was a child, if I did all my chores for the week, my mom would let me chose between a mystery present or $10 or something like that. She was trying to teach me that taking risks in life is okay, and they even help spice up my life. I like to weigh all my options as a kid, and if I ever had to make a choice, I would always try to find a way to compromise and get both things. Unfortunately, you can’t always do that in the grown-up world, so don’t be afraid to take risks. It will all turn out the way it was meant to.

20. Do what makes you happy.

I saved this one for last because this is the most important thing I have learned before turning 20. Do what makes YOU happy. This is your life, and it is short. Don’t compromise when it comes to your happiness. If you hate your major now, you are going to hate doing things in that field for the rest of your life, so change your major now while you still can. If you don’t like your school, don’t just sit there and live through it, make a change and transfer schools. Make this life worth living, do what makes you happy. Pursue what you love, whether it be someone or something, a person or a career. Do what makes you happy.

I hope you enjoyed this series. Be sure to check out Part One, Two, and Three if you missed them. Follow me on this blog, Capturing College, for more content like this, and don’t forget to do what makes you happy.

20 Things I’ve Learned Before Turning 20 (Part One)

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My 20th birthday is coming up in less than a month, so for the next four Monday’s, I am going to share five things I have learned before turning 20 years old, which will add up to 20 things. I hope you enjoy these little pearls of wisdom, and be sure to follow to make sure you don’t miss out on the next three parts of this series.

1. Don’t play the victim.

I’ve heard my parents say this frequently through out my life, and it is something I need to remember while I enter my 20s. Take responsibility for your actions, no matter what it is. If you walk into a door frame and stub your toe, it is your fault, not the door frame’s fault. If you decide to skip class and miss an in-class assignment, the zero you receive is your fault, so take responsibility for your choices and actions. You are not a victim of your circumstances.

2. It is okay to say no.

You are allowed to say no to something someone asks you to do. You do not have to do everything someone asks of you. It is perfectly okay for you to not do that favor for your friend, and it is okay for you to back out on a preplanned event in order to take care of yourself or your mental health. You can not do everything, and it is okay to prioritize yourself before the things others ask you do to for them.

3. You will miss your family (even if they drive you crazy.)

We all love our families, but family can also drive you crazy. You may think you’ll be glad to be out in the world on your own, but you will miss your mom telling you to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and your dad cutting up fruit for you in the morning.

4. Experiences are better than things.

I’m not saying buying things isn’t great, trust me, I like shopping. However, what I have learned is that I would rather spend my money on a concert I can experience with my friends rather than buying those expensive Nike shoes at the mall. Chances are, those shoes won’t last very long. You may grow out of them, they may soon be out of style, or you may just wear them so much they fall apart. Regardless, you’ll probably hold the memory of the concert closer to your heart than the memory of those shoes.

5. School is not the most important thing.

I know, sounds crazy to say, especially coming from someone who works very hard for her grades, but school is not the most important thing. While you should work hard to do well in everything you do, you should not let your education take control of your life. There will be times where you can afford to make sacrifices, like taking a break from studying for a quiz in order to grab coffee with a friend you barely see, and you should take those chances.

College Journey Part Four: The Decision

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When I returned from my impromptu road trip back from Michigan with my former college roommate, I returned to a lot of unanswered questions. The largest of them being: what am I going to do now? 

I was accepted to Seattle University, and I had toured the campus, which I really enjoyed. It was stunning, not too far from home, and offered a degree in photography. I scheduled a meeting with the department, and went to the university to get a department tour. Everyone I met was kind, however something was off. While I was excited, I was also nervous to figure everything out. 

Once I realized that this wasn’t going to be an easy choice, I decided I wanted to take some time to think about it, and to give myself that time, I was going to take time off of school in order to determine my next steps. 

I waited for my parents to return home from work, and then we decided to sit down and have a conversation. They seemed open to it, and I was glad to be relieved of the pressure of making a decision. 

The next afternoon, my dad called me and told me that he didn’t want me to take time off of school, and I had essentially two days to make things happen. I started to panic. How was I supposed to make that choice in a matter of hours? I could feel the clock ticking, so I went to work. I continued registering for Seattle University, even though I was conflicted as to whether or not I wanted to go there. 

That evening, my mother returned home from work and I discussed with her what I was dreading. I didn’t know what to do, and I was so anxious and panicked by this decision. We spoke about what was important to me, and what I wanted out of my university experience other than a degree. 

As we discussed my options, I spoke the words that I never thought would come out of my mouth: 

“What if I went to Walla Walla?”

Now, you may remember that I have had a complicated past with my feelings toward Walla Walla University. I was originally against going there because they didn’t offer a photography major and everyone from my high school attends there.

However, when I visited my friends that were attending there earlier in the summer, I really enjoyed being around them. I loved the way that they all were close to each other, I enjoyed the church services, and I thrived being around familiar people, even though it was a relatively new place. My eyes were opened as to what college life could be like, and I was glad my friends had found a university they enjoyed more than I was enjoying my time at Andrews. 

Those memories played through my mind as I heard the question echo through the room.

“Did you really just say that?” my mom asked, her voice filled with surprise.

“Well, yeah. It wouldn’t be so bad. If I didn’t like it, I could transfer to Seattle University after two quarters,” I explained.

My mom was happy to help me research my decision. I made a chart with columns for the things that mattered to me, such as social life, cost, and distance. 

In the end, I looked at the chart and saw that it ultimately pointed me in the direction of Walla Walla University.

Instagram Aesthetics: Organizational Patterns

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I frequently tell people that Instagram is my favorite social media platform. As a photographer, I find it is an easy way to increase exposure and allow people to see a nice representation of my work.

I have had an Instagram account since 2013, and since then, I have carefully curated my content and tried to create a consistent look.

I pride myself on the organization of my Instagram posts. While I may not have many Instagram followers, I do enjoy posting on the platform and sharing photos with my friends, family, and clients.

Friends of mine have trusted me with their account passwords and allowed me to archive posts in order to format their accounts in a more aesthetically-pleasing way. Unfortunately, I am unable to sign in to everybody’s Instagram accounts and format them.

I thought I would share with you one of my biggest tips on how to make your Instagram more consistent, clean, and organized. Hopefully these tips will help you stand out from the sea of influencers and really have a clean-cut look to your account.

Establishing an Organizational Pattern

One way to make your account look more organized is by creating a more organized look for your profile. On both my personal and business accounts, I have decided to post in rows. I personally like the way that this looks, and I think it divides up each row well.

While I like the look of rows, some people, like my friend and fellow photographer Mariah Johnson, @mj_media on Instagram, prefers to use columns.

Columns example via Mariah Johnson (@mj_media)

Other organizational patterns include cubes, boxes, diagonal lines, or a checkerboard pattern. Since I have the most experience with posting in rows of three, I am going to focus on how you can accomplish that look on your Instagram account.

While rows are so satisfying to look at, they may be hard to accomplish if you aren’t willing to archive former posts or delete and start over with a blank account, but there are a few ways to get around it.

Before you do this, you would have to do is make sure your posts are divisible by three. Essentially, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of your account, you should not have one or two posts at the bottom, but you should have a full row of three. If you have one or two posts, you either have to remove one or two posts, (simply archive, don’t delete), or you can post either one or two photos to complete that row.

Once you have accomplished this, you can do one of two things. The first thing you could do is post a divider row. This can be very irritating to your followers, so be warned, just in case you lose a few.

A divider row will consist of three photos. Most people either do blank posts of just one color, or some posts with words on them. To make them more interesting to your followers, I would post three photos that relate to each other and aren’t too far out of what you would usually post. For example, three photos of beaches you have visited, three similar landscapes, or something of that nature. On my personal instagram account, I have a row that could serve as a divider row of three different telescope type things on top of major land marks.

Divider row example from my personal Instagram

After your divider row, you can post your first row. I recommend not posting all three photos from that row on the same day. Not only it irritating to your followers, but it also decreases the amount of likes you may receive on one photo. Of course, if you have thousands of followers, people probably won’t mind you posting several times a day, but for smaller accounts like my own, I advise spreading your three photos over the course of a few days.

The other way to go about this is to simply start posting in rows, and skip the divider row. After two or three complete rows, it will become clear on your profile that you are using a new organizational pattern, so the divider row is more of a clear division that some people prefer, but isn’t a necessity.

In a later post, I will share some more tips for posting on Instagram, including apps I use for editing and organization, post planning, and other tips.

Do you use Instagram? Feel free to follow me, @kirstenimages, and check out the content I post.

College Journey Part Two: College Life

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Andrews University has a special program where you can go four weeks before the start of the year, technically three weeks before orientation week, and take one class and get that whole semester-long class out of the way in three weeks. Due to my achievements in high school, I received a scholarship for this program, and was able to go for a discounted rate.

While this was wonderful, I was also devastated to be leaving so soon. My friends were all going to be attending Walla Walla University in the fall, and they were going to be on quarter system, so they didn’t start until September. I had to leave halfway through July to drive out to Michigan and start my jumpstart classes and actual college before all my friends were even thinking about their dorm room décor. 

Saying goodbye was the hardest part. I had been told for the past year by my parents that these people I had been friends with for the past four years would no longer be my friends by the end of my freshman year of college, and that I would be making new friends, and saying goodbye to them, knowing I may never see them again, was absolutely heartbreaking. 

I’ll skip over the sad details of all the goodbyes I said, and skip to the packing. As some of you may know, I drive a Volkswagen Beatle, which isn’t necessarily a huge vehicle. I had to fit all my stuff for school, as well as my mother and her bag, and myself, all in this tiny car and drive it across the majority of the United States. Surprisingly, this wasn’t as difficult as it sounds. To be fair, we did wait to buy quite a lot of stuff until I was in Michigan, but the car wasn’t super full, even with basically all my stuff in it.

The morning I left was hard on me. We woke up early to get on the road, and as the sun was coming up, I was hugging my dad and saying goodbye to my dog, who I was unsure would still be there when I came back, due to his old age.

Once my mom and I were on the road, my tears had dried a little bit and I started to try and focus on the road ahead. We had a fun road trip, and stopped to visit a few loved ones on the way over to Michigan. 

We arrived in Michigan on a Friday evening, and my mom was flying out on Sunday afternoon, so we had some time to get me settled before everything ready for me to start my summer session class on Monday. 

Those few days flew by, and I said a tearful goodbye to my mom before going up to the room and having my new roommate and her family come help move all of our furniture around so we could unpack and get settled. 

I really lucked out on the roommate front, and I was able to bond with her fairly quickly. Since she was a graphic design major, and I was a photography major, we had a lot in common, and we spent a lot of time together. After summer session ended, and we started our classes in the fall semester, we fortunately had a lot of the same classes together, so we became pretty close fairly quickly. 

As the year progressed, I had a hard time making more friends. I had two solid friends by the end of the year, one of them being my roommate, but she wasn’t going to be returning to Andrews the next fall. I was super sad about this, but I knew I would get to see her since she was going to come visit me over the summer.

While I wasn’t completely satisfied with my college experience at the end of my freshman year, I ultimately decided I was going to stay, even though I had explore the idea of transferring to another school for my sophomore year. I ended up leaving my car and all my stuff in a storage unit in Michigan so it would be ready for me to return to in the fall.

Finally, after what felt like years of being away from home, I was returning home for the summer.