One of the biggest adjustments I’ve had to make since moving to Kentucky for law school is how different the academic calendar is. Back at Oregon State, we were on the quarter system—three terms per year, each lasting 10 weeks. Fall term started in the last week of September and ended in early December; Winter term ran from early January to mid-March; and Spring term stretched from late March to early June. Over here, though, school follows a semester system: Fall semester starts in mid-August and ends in early December, while Spring semester begins in early January and wraps up in late April. Because of this shift, I’ve found it really hard to accept that school starts in just two weeks, especially when all of my friends still at Oregon State aren’t even halfway through their summer break. It’s strange that my summer began on April 30th, and even stranger that it’s already been over three months since. But because I’m moving to my new apartment (down the hall from my current one) this week and my summer job ending this week, now feels like the right time to reflect on this summer before another exciting (and headache-inducing) year of law school starts.

This summer has been pretty good. My primary focus has been on building better healthy habits while I’ve been working. I’ve found a lot of joy in adopting a couple of small new habits each week to continuously build upon, and I’ve made progress in breaking some bad ones too. I was already consistent in the gym, but now I’ve added daily cardio and am working on improving my pull-ups specifically (being tall makes them a lot harder). I started tracking my calories and am finally starting to lose fat while still increasing the amount of weight I lift. I feel much better at ~227–230 pounds than I did at ~240–242, and I’m hoping to get a bit leaner in the next couple of months. I’m eating much healthier (shoutout to Costco rotisserie chicken) and hitting my macros (250g protein/day, 2,500 calories/day). I’ve mostly stopped eating out, which was a huge drain on my bank account, started writing down three things I’m grateful for every morning, cut down my phone screen time to 2–3 hours per day, started stretching in the mornings, and picked up casual reading again.

I’ve also had a few fun experiences this summer. About a month ago, I visited Indiana University’s campus for the first time and even got to see their FIJI chapter house (it puts my old one to shame). I spent the Fourth of July in Louisville at my friend Chandler’s house, where we drank, played pool volleyball, and watched the fireworks. I’m also on a co-ed softball team with some friends from law school, and we’ve played almost every Wednesday. Now, we’re horrible, but it’s a lot of fun. As someone who quite literally never played baseball or softball growing up, I’ve actually had a great time—and I’ve scored a run in every single game (I’m very proud of that fact). I went home for a week in May, celebrated turning 23 at O’Shea’s by getting way too drunk, and spent some more time exploring the city.

But I’ve also had my share of negative experiences and learning moments this summer. Financially, I’ve had to figure out how to track my spending and save properly while living on a tight budget, something I’ve never really had to do before. I overspent on things I didn’t truly need earlier this summer, but I’m now learning to prioritize what matters financially and what can wait. The weather here has been miserable—Oregon summers are so much better than the constant rain and thunderstorms we get in Kentucky. I wasn’t selected for any interviews this week with the big law firms in Louisville for next summer jobs, which was disappointing. And to top it off, I’ve had to fight an active roach infestation in my apartment. That absolutely sucked. Bugs in an apartment such, but roaches are the worst. I spent a good part of my birthday killing them and trying to roach-proof the apartment. Just knowing they were somewhere in my space genuinely disturbed me. The good news is that the apartment complex responded quickly. Pest control came out the day after I submitted a ticket and sprayed thoroughly. Thankfully, the roaches are now pretty much gone (believe me, I’ve checked everywhere). I also had a long talk with management about some of the public complaints from other tenants, and I made it clear that I’m a law student who knows how to file a legal claim if I need to. Needless to say, they’ve catered to my needs ever since. And while I’ve been focused on building good habits, I can’t shake the feeling that I haven’t been social enough this summer. I’m starting to regret how much time I spent inside when I could’ve been more active and engaged with others. In doing so much, I feel like I haven’t done enough.

When I write, I try to tie my lived experiences to lessons that are not only meaningful to me but potentially helpful to anyone reading, including you. As I thought about ideas for this post, I couldn’t come up with a specific story from the past month that felt like it carried a deep lesson or profound insight. But that can be the lesson itself too, in my opinion.

I tend to overanalyze, emotionally and situationally. It’s a habit that leads me to overthink, replay moments, and try to unpack everything on some deeper level. But the truth is, life isn’t always that deep. Some experiences are worth reflecting on, but many aren’t. I considered writing about my habit-building journey and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle—but honestly, I made those changes simply because I wanted to. I also considered writing about my war with those stupid ass roaches and how they sent me into an unhealthy state of paranoia for two days straight. And maybe that could be spun into a “life lesson,” but really, my takeaway was simple: threaten your apartment complex with a lawsuit, and they’ll take care of it.

Not everything needs to be reflected on or analyzed to death.

My biggest revelation this summer is that it was… pretty good. I wish it had started and ended later like my summers at OSU, but I’m happy with my schedule here too. I’ve made real progress toward living the lifestyle I want, had good times with friends, and dealt with some rough moments I’d rather just move on from. And that’s life. Not every moment is good, and not every moment is bad. You keep doing your best and hope that tomorrow is a little better than today, because you don’t need to overanalyze everything that happened yesterday. You keep living and enjoying and moving forward.

That’s life. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

-Colby