There is nothing sweeter in the summer than eating ice cream. When I was younger there was nothing that I loved more than going to the local playground and being asked by my dad if I wanted to go out for ice cream afterward. Sometimes it was the only way he could get my younger sister and me to leave the park during the cool summer evenings after the sun had already disappeared for the day. It’s the simplicities of childhood events like that which I find myself missing frequently because once you’re an adult the only things you’re worried about are finding a job, a relationship, and one day buying your own home. 

Being an adult is difficult sometimes but especially once you finish college and you find yourself unsure of what you want to be the next step in your future. The first step is finding a job, but sometimes your first professional job after college doesn’t end up being the right one, so you’ll constantly wonder what went wrong. Even though I was only in my first professional job for about a month, I realized soon after starting it that it was something that I wasn’t ready for and that was okay. I know that one day I’ll find a better job that I will enjoy, even if it takes time to find it. 

The next thing that many young adults are concerned with is finding a happy relationship and that is something that doesn’t always come easy to everyone. Finding a relationship can happen in one of two ways: you can either meet someone in person or you can meet someone online. Online dating is something that many millennials have realized is working quite well for them. Finding the right person for you can be a very long and excruciating process full of bad dates and people who treat you poorly, but one day you’ll end up finding the right person for you as long as you don’t lose hope that one day you will eventually. I was fortunate enough to find my boyfriend on Facebook Dating and he’s the best thing that has ever happened to me, because

with him in my life I’m way happier than I used to be. Once you find your perfect life partner, you’ll find that they’ll soon become your best friend and that’s exactly what happened to me.

Moving out of your parent’s home is the next step into adulthood, and sometimes it might even mean moving out of your hometown and getting a fresh start elsewhere. A lot of things can contribute to making this life-altering decision, like getting a new job or starting a new relationship. I was always one of those people who wanted to move out of my hometown eventually because I had always hoped that one day something would lead me somewhere better.  Fortunately for me, that is exactly what happened. When I started my first professional journalism job, I thought that I was going to be stuck living in my hometown in the same job for a long time. Little did I know, the same day that I started what was my dream job, I would end up matching with my current boyfriend on Facebook dating. We had six hours of distance between us at the time and we were unsure how long distance would work between us. Since my dream job didn’t end up working out, I ended up quitting and moving to Delaware. Ever since then, I am a lot happier with everything I have going on in my life. Even though I miss my family, sometimes I am grateful that I don’t live in the same town I grew up, because moving away from my hometown has made me feel like more of an adult.

Not everything in life is going to work out, and that’s okay because as long as you strive to do better, your life will eventually improve. When I was in college, I set out wanting to become a journalist for a newspaper however the opportunity that I had to work in that career field didn’t work out for me. But I haven’t given up hope that someday I will find a better job somewhere doing something better. I decided to start The Up and Coming Magazine because I wanted to create a place where writers of all ages who have had trouble getting their work published could come together and share their work in both a positive and supportive environment. Starting a magazine of my own was something that I never thought would be possible but with a lot of hardworking individuals, like those who have decided to become a part of it, I was able to achieve a lifelong goal of mine. I am grateful that so many people have come forward and have become a part of it so far, and I can’t wait to see all of the future stories that the writers come up with next because, without all of them, this magazine wouldn’t be possible.

This was written by our editor and co-founder, Hanna Perry.