Welcome to College

 Holy heck, college. Who knew that I would be able to be on a college campus. A year ago, almost to the date, I got the news that my senior year was being shut down because of COVID-19. As hard as this was, it gave me a chance to work towards college and drive my focus there. So as you can guess, this first post is all about college. Well, this whole project really is about college. This is just a way for me to release from the stress of school. Now, you might be asking, "Well, Ash, what makes college so stressful for you?". And the answer to that would most definitely be being a college athlete and a nursing student. Most people generally tend to speculate that nursing isn't that hard but, I am here to tell you to get that stigma out of your head. Nursing is HARD. You must have every part of the body memorized and different prefixes and suffixes that tell you precisely what is wrong with someone. You must be prepared for everything. For instance, a pandemic. Where do you think we'd be if nurses didn't step up during this pandemic. All nurses of all backgrounds went to help all across the country. Now tell me that's not stressful. And as for being an athlete. Oh, do I just love getting up at 5am every day to get ready for practice. And don't forget that during preseason you go 2-3 times a day. Bet you forgot that you, an 18-19-year-old, are going in full-contact with more experienced players who are also 22-24. I cannot tell you how many times I have woken up, and my body just hurts. I am 18 years old, my body should not hurt as much as it does every day. But I make it work. Every day I remember why I even started playing or even where I'm going from an academic standpoint. For me having these reminders helps push me to be the best I can. After all, if you stress yourself out too much because of the things you love, do you really love it then? I've seen this happen to too many people. They are burnouts. They lose their passions and give up on finding new activities. This, to me, is what you should not do. Don't just go and give up. Go do something that helps you remember why you started. As I come to the end of this, I want to say thank you. Thank you to all those who support me and everyone who reads this. I started blogging in high school and then fell out of it during my first semester of college. I'm hoping this can really help me continue to adapt to college and connect with more people. I hope to put out 1-2 posts a week. I grow this platform and eventually move to 3-4 posts a day. Something I want my readers to do is go out and try something new today. Who knows what you're going to discover. Just trust me, try something new today. Stay updated on when I post next through Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/_ashleyfranken_/