
Hannah Lougheed, MA SID/MS-GHPM’22
Wowwowwow. Can you believe it – I am done. After two years full of classes, papers, exams, internships, blog posts, laughter, and tears, I have reached the finish line. As I look forward to my next steps career wise, I wanted to first look back and reflect on my “Letter to your Future Self” and see if I have made myself proud. Here is what I wrote a little over a year ago:
Okay, now that we are here at graduation, here are some things I hope I can say as I finish this two year journey:
- I made it through while making the best of my situation (Covid really changed everyone’s plans, but I hope I didn’t just “get through it” but that I made the most of it). I think I can say I accomplished this one. I will be honest, there were times where I felt as though I could not write another assignment, or read another article, but I never wished I was not at Heller nor did I feel that I needed to put my head down and just push through. I thoroughly enjoyed each class and tried to be as present in the moment as possible during this entire season.
- I created some long-lasting relationships with those at Heller who I can always lean on in the future, and who can lean on me. I genuinely love being with people while building friendships and connections. I feel that I have made some great friends and colleagues who I will stay in contact with for many years to come! This includes classmates, workmates, professors, staff, and roommates – lots of incredible people to add to my people collection!
- I took advantage of opportunities for various forms of growth while at Heller. Those who walked beside me throughout this Graduate School process can attest to the fact that I am always very involved. From taking on a leadership role as the Co-Chair within the Heller Student Association, to gaining invaluable connections as a Graduate Assistant with Admissions, and everything in between, I took advantage of a number of experiences during my time here which has added richly to my time and Heller, and has shaped me into the person I am today.
- I applied myself and did the best work I possibly could throughout my courses. This one is a mostly yes. I will amend it to say, “I did the best work I possibly could with the time and energy available“. In order to have done my absolute best work, I think I would have needed to be juggling fewer classes and activities. However, in juggling those various activities I increased my time management and prioritization skills. It became of matter of cost/benefit analysis for what I needed to gain from this experience. So I can still check this off the box, just with a bit of an amendment.
- I left an impact on Heller, and it left an impact on me. Heller has certainly left an impact on me, and I hope I have left one on Heller – but I cannot speak to that! Heller will forever hold a piece of my heart, as these two years have been incredibly formative in the creation of who I have become.
- This investment was totally worth it, and I would not have changed a thing… okay maybe the whole global pandemic thing! But besides that, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. The investment was totally worth it, and for the most part, I would not have changed a thing. Hindsight is always 20/20, so maybe there were some classes I would swap out, events I would have attended, and overall ‘life things’ I would have altered. Of course I did not prefer to be online the entire first year, but that was out of the control of anyone as Covid prevented all universities from functioning as normal. So overall, this one was fulfilled as well.
So, all-in-all I would say I made myself proud! These two years have been incredible in many ways. Now, I can reflect and be proud of myself for making it through while balancing so much! Time for a much deserved nap.
It has been wonderful contributing to this blog, and for anyone who is reading this, or has read my posts in the past – thank you! It means a lot that others care about my thoughts, and this has been a great outlet to process my time in graduate school. If anyone ever cares to reach out, please email me at hannahlougheed@gmail.com – I am always happy to chat about my time at Heller.
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