Embracing Change: The Harsh Reality of Growth

 Change isn’t just something you have to deal with—it’s something you have to love. If you don’t, it will eat you alive. That’s something I’ve learned the hard way. I’m a few months away from graduating college, standing at the edge of the life I’ve built and staring into the unknown. The past 3 years have been a whirlwind of long nights, early mornings, and chasing opportunities like my life depended on it—because, in a way, it has.

I’ve worked in wine bars until 1 am on my laptop just because its the only place open after Im off work. I am running on fumes after finishing media projects and staying up editing photos until my eyes burned. I’ve driven for hours just for a 30-minute photoshoot because I knew it would put me in the right rooms. I’ve reached out to every NFL and MLB team 10 times knowing damn well that rejection is part of the game. But here’s the thing: I never let it stop me.

The reality of growth is brutal. It doesn’t care about your comfort zone. It doesn’t wait for you to be ready. It forces you to move, adapt, and evolve—or it leaves you behind. I’ve spent years building my career in sports media—photographing games, running social media accounts, and working with athletes to elevate their brands. I’ve interned with 4 professional and college-level teams, chased 17+ hours a semester at university, and balanced freelance work with everything else life threw at me.

But now? Now, everything has changed. College is safe. It’s a structured chaos with a safety net. The real world doesn’t care about how hard you’ve worked up until now. It cares about what you do next. And that’s where perspective comes in. You can either fear the unknown or you can embrace it. You never know what’s on the other side, so instead of worrying, “What if it doesn’t work?” start thinking, “What if it does?” What if everything you’ve worked for is finally about to pay off? What if the risk turns into the reward?

The transition from college to post-grad life is one of the biggest shifts I will ever experience. One day, you’re in a familiar routine surrounded by friends, professors, and a campus that feels like home. The next, you’re navigating job applications and apartment leases and figuring out how to balance ambition with reality. No matter your career path—whether you’re stepping into the corporate world, chasing a creative dream, or still trying to figure it all out—it’s overwhelming. But it’s also exciting. Because this is the part where you get to take control, it’s no longer about following a syllabus or checking off degree requirements; it’s about carving out your own space in the world.

I choose to love change. Every late night, every exhausting double shift, and every rejection email has led me to this moment. I’ve built something from nothing, and if I have to do it again, so be it. The version of me that walked into college 3  years ago wouldn’t recognize the person writing this today. That’s the power of change. It’s relentless. It forces you to break, rebuild, and come back stronger.

So if you’re scared of change, good. That means it matters. But don’t run from it. Chase it. Let it shape you. Let it push you past every limit you thought you had. And when you look back, you’ll realize you didn’t just survive it—you thrived in it.