Still, I went ahead and applied to schools in North Carolina and the northeast. The waiting game was hard, even more so than the application process itself. It felt like applying to college all over again, except perhaps with more sophisticated vocabulary in my essays and a much more difficult standardized test. I thought maybe I would end up back at my favorite city, Boston. Then, in March, I got an email that I never, ever expected, and it changed all of my plans.

It’s weird for me to write this out, probably because I’m still having trouble believing it myself. At the end of July, I will finally be leaving my beloved home here in Chapel Hill for a much more intimidating, exciting adventure in New York City. Starting in August, I will be moving to New York to pursue my master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University.

-breathes-

It’s going to take me a while to get used to saying that: I’m going to graduate school, and I’m moving to the media capital of the world. What?! To say that I am lucky and overjoyed about this opportunity is a vast understatement. I never dreamed of making it to a place like New York City, much less get into a school like Columbia. As a kid, I always had a nurse accompany me at school and take care of me at home when my parents were at work. Things like sleepovers and field trips were pretty much out of the question because of my disability. And now, here I am, making housing arrangements in Manhattan and figuring out my moving date.

I still don’t know where I want to be in five, 10 years, but I’m confident that this is the right next step for me. I’m so excited to share all of my adventures in NYC on this blog, and to finally start blogging regularly once again. To all the challenges that I know are going to come my way, I say, “Bring it on.” I’m going to miss North Carolina immensely (especially the weather), but people say that you never get anywhere by staying comfortable.

Since I made this announcement a few days ago, I’ve been absolutely blown away by all of the support, encouragement and love that I’ve received from you all. The comments, the messages, the well-wishes…it’s been so overwhelming, but in the best way possible. I especially want to thank the people who have helped me get to where I am today. I never would have gotten this far without some important people in my life. I want to thank my family, my partner Andrew and my colleagues at Personify for supporting me in my decision. I also want to thank my friends, the NC Fellows program and every single person who has ever believed in me and my writing. I am incredibly grateful and feel like the luckiest person to have such an amazing support system of mentors, friends and family – thank you so much.

Why am I telling you all this? There are a couple things that helped make my decision in sharing this announcement here (because, honestly, it feels weird to yell out, “People, I’m moving to the Big Apple to study journalism and be a writer! Care about this!”). One, I never thought I would ever receive the opportunity to study at Columbia or move to New York City. Two, I spend a good amount of time mulling over regrets like any other writer aboard the struggle bus, thinking about how I’m 23 and haven’t written my first novel yet, and how I still haven’t made it onto Jezebel‘s homepage. I’m here to tell you that dreams can come true, only it may not happen in the way you expect.