I write a newsletter with my day-to-day insights, lessons I've learned, and cool recommendations to improve your life š”
Special edition āØĀ My 2023 review
Hey Reader!
Happy holidays, and welcome to a very special edition of the newsletter āļø Iām back home in the US, just celebrated my 23rd birthday, and Iām feeling quite reflective.
I shared my New Yearās review process in this video, but I thought Iād give you newsletter readers a more detailed look into my year.
I donāt know about you, but Iām nosy and I like hearing about whatās going on in other peopleās lives, so hopefully this will be enjoyable. My goal is to:
- Inspire you to do your own review of 2023
- Give you ideas for what you might write (sometimes starting with a blank page is confusing)
- Show you both the highs and the lows of my year (in a way that social media sometimes does not).
Letās beginā¦
Accomplishments:
š I had a fantastic semester. It was probably the most frustrating one yet, but I pushed through. The final grades havenāt been posted yet, but I think my GPA will go up and Iām really proud of myself!
šø I finished up my work as the Communications Manager of the universityās Music Club in Segovia. I cried so much at our final concert, but the photoshoots and posters that I put together are some of my proudest work that Iāve ever created. And we were recognized as the Best Social Media Account at the end-of-year awards!
š¦ Moving often is stressful (especially for someone like me who needs consistency), but I managed to move out of my apartment in Segovia and into a new one in Madrid, mostly without hiccups (just one sleepless night packing).
š” Speaking of transitions, I had a lovely summer. Coming back home to the US during school breaks usually sends me into an unmotivated slump. But this year, I managed to keep up the momentum, repaint my room, see my friends, and make lotsa YouTube videos!
šļøāāļø I settled into a consistent gym routine this semester. Not only that, I resisted the temptation of signing up for a gym closer to home and made full use of the free campus gym instead. Packing a gym bag and organizing my schedule to work out after class took a few weeks to adjust to, but soon enough it became automatic.
āš©āš» I revived my newsletter. I am so happy to be writing these regular updates again. School has not been scratching my writing itchāweāve hardly been assigned any essays latelyāso I need this outlet. And I hope youāve been enjoying reading it!
š I fell in love! I feel so cheesy every time I bring this up, but it was quite a life-changing event ā both a āhappy memoryā and an āaccomplishmentā. After being friends for a year, we started dating in February, and itās been better and better ever since :) I never really understood what people meant when they said that a relationship teaches you a lot about yourself, but āthe peopleā are usually right and I have, in fact, learned a lot about myselfā¦
Difficulties:
š¤³ Everything broke this semesterā¦ I donāt know what sort of curse has been placed on me. I swear Iām not usually this clumsy! I knocked over my tripod and broke a $900 lens (the repair shop said they couldnāt even fix it), shattered the back of my phone, my computerās webcam stopped working, and my Apple Watch isnāt registering my heart rate š®āšØ
š Like I said, it was the most frustrating semester of school so far. Randomized group projects with new classmates had me making many tearful Facetime calls to my parents. To be honest, I turned into an extremely negative person and had to really stop and recognize that my complaining had gotten out of hand.
š Moving to Madrid. For those of you who donāt know, I chose to do the first two years of my degree in a small city called Segovia before moving to Madrid for the final two. This year, I switched campuses, and I honestly miss Segovia so much. I canāt shake the feeling that Segovia was home, and this has taught me important things about the sort of environment that I would like to be in long-term.
š° Iāve been stressed about money š„² I am really grateful to my parents for paying for my education and for the fact that I can do something I love (creating content) to make money, but a lot has changed this year. Honestly, AdSense has tanked, and itās hard to keep prioritizing YouTube with school and career goals also on my plate.
Happy memories:
š±š¹ I got my first (and possibly only) tattoo. After a lot of deliberation, I finally settled on a design. Itās the official coat of arms of the city in Lithuania where my parents grew up. In case youāre wondering, Iāve had zero regrets and love my tattoo all over again each time I catch a glimpse of it in the mirror.
š° In April, my family came to visit me in Segovia for a week. I was beyond excited to give them a tour of my entire life ā they stayed in my apartment, met my friends, toured the campus, ate at my favorite restaurants, and fell in love with Segovia just as much as I have. My mom (jokingly) said sheād take over my apartment lease once I left and work at the bakery across the street.
š¾ I went to JAPAN AND TAIWAN. Oh my goodness, I keep forgetting that this entire trip happened. It was just too cool and too far outside of my normal, everyday life, that it doesnāt feel real. I got to wear a kimono, attend a matcha ceremony, make my own custom Cup Noodles, and play with mini pigs.
āļø For the first time, I took an airlineās āoverbooking compensationā offer and spent a night in Istanbul. The experience was actually very stressful, but I look back on this memory fondly because I formed a sort of team with the other two passengers who took this offer ā another student from IE and an older woman from Zaragoza. Strangers at the airport became my temporary āfamilia Istanbulā (thatās what we named our WhatsApp group chat), without whom I donāt know how I would have made it through!
ICYMI
What Iām doing to prepare for the New Year! Thank you for all of the love on this video š„¹
A few of my favorite things
*Some of these are affiliate links. When you shop through them, a small portion of your purchase goes to The Bliss Bean, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
šļø I have listened to every single episode of Trevor Noahās new podcast, What Now? (Iām a big fan of Trevor). The first episode with Dwayne Johnson was maybe my favorite.
š® Iāve been playing Mario Kart 8 to take breaks from all of my final projects. It makes me so nostalgic for the original MarioKart Wii that I played in my bedroom ten years ago.
šæ I watched that new Netflix thriller based on a book I read a few years back. Iāve seen mixed reviews, but I absolutely loved the feeling of dread it created, and I think the unexplained ending conveys the movieās message and tone perfectly.
šŗ If you see me zoned out, itās because this song and music video are constantly replaying in my brain.
š (AD) I took some time over Winter Break to review 2023 and do a āwheel of lifeā exercise with my personalized AI coach š After you rate and write about each area of your life, your coach suggests personalized goals and conversation topics to improve on each area. For example, I rated my āfriends & familyā category a 6 because Iād like to deepen those connections, so my coach suggested a goal to initiate a bi-weekly activity or outing with friends. Now Iāll get a daily text reminding me to make progress on this goal!
ā An exercise for you
Have a beautiful rest of your 2023 š Spend some time reflecting on the year and getting excited for 2024, but also watch some movies, play in the snow (if you have it), and sit around having long conversations with the people you love.
āFind all editions of the newsletter here. Thank you for reading!
Lots of love,
Beatrice
Hi, I'm Beatrice!
I write a newsletter with my day-to-day insights, lessons I've learned, and cool recommendations to improve your life š”
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