A letter from Dec 31, 2024

Dear Me, I hope this year was filled with great prosperity and success! Even if not, that is completely okay so long as progress towards becoming a better person was made. I am so curious about your current position and whereabouts we are regarding our personal goals. I'll paint the picture as for where I am now and hopefully this acts as an anchor of comparison! Right now, I'm in the middle of my 2nd year at UCL. I haven't gotten an internship yet nor a placement year, so I am feeling a little uneasy. Although, I've been placing great effort into my studies. I've maintained my average of a First Class from last year which I'm so happy for Alhamdulillah :). I've made friends, lost friends, and reconnected a few. After March in 2024, everything felt like a fever dream in the worst way possible. But once I had gotten through that hurdle, I truly realised that I could accomplish anything so long as I put my mind to it. From then, I focused more on those who truly care for my wellbeing, as well as my religion and overall health. I reconnected with two friends I had lost contact with, bid farewell to two friends leaving the country and welcomed the new opportunities that came my way. Having visited Algiers and Dubai, I truly realised that my problems weren't as big as I had dramatised them in my head. From then, I took on the "It's going to be okay" mentality. I felt overwhelmed by applications and rejections? It's going to be okay. I felt stressed from assignments? It's going to be okay. I believe this pivotal shift in my mindset truly changed how I perceived bad situations happening to me, and for that I am so grateful. I met several incredible people in the past year- and I hope to meet even more in the coming year! Now time for the questions. 1. Did we get anything over summer? An internship? Experience? I hope so! 2. Did we accomplish any major projects? Were we happy to tell others about it, be it on LinkedIn or in person? 3. Did we get to meet anyone new? How were they like? 4. What sorts of things are we interested in? Any new hobbies? 5. What type of career are we focused on? Management, aviation, consulting- something like that or different? 6. Any romantic interests? I seriously doubt this one but worth a shot asking! 7. Where are you right now? 8. How was university? 9. How are my cats? 10. What lessons did we learn from the year? That's everything I suppose. Looking forward to what's in store! Best wishes, Ines, 2024