My Year 2018 in Review

2018 has been an incredibly eventful year to me. I've made important decisions, laughed and cried. Thinking about the beginning of 2018, it doesn't feel like this was only a year ago. 

When the New Year 2018 started, I was studying for the Abitur exams. I panicked a few days later because I didn't know how on earth I would be able to remember all of this within a few weeks.

By the end of January, we went back to school normally after the Abitur exams and had to wait for the results until the end of February. 

In March, I had my oral Abitur exam. After that, there were no more lessons at school, but we've had to prepare for prom and all that. 

I was notified in March that I couldn't take the job at the Bureau of Finances which I had applied for last year. They had some technical issues and weren't able to hire anyone for this job beginning in 2018 and they gave me the alternatives of either waiting till 2019 or studying tax law instead. 

It was a hard decision. On the one hand, I wanted to study exactly that; it's an IT course and I'm into programming and mathematics a lot. On the other hand, I didn't want to waste a whole year. 

I decided to study tax law because I thought that it wouldn't be too different from what I wanted to do and I'd also get to stay at my parents' place, plus I wouldn't lose a year. It's still 2018 and I already regret this decision, but I can't change anything about it anymore. If I applied again now, the next possible start would be 2020 and by then, I'll be almost done with studying tax law. 

At the end of March, I've had the job interview for studying tax law at the Bureau of Finances. They called me the same day, telling me that they were impressed and I got the job. 

After that, I've had three months off between graduating from school and starting to work at the beginning of July.

I had bought a knitting machine, sewn some presents for my family for Christmas, relaxed a bit.

And then it was July and I started working at the Bureau of Finances, along with nine other trainees. It wasn't quite the way I expected it to be, but we didn't know anything yet, so any kind of expectations were predetermined to be wrong. The first week felt like an eternity with all the new things we didn't understand anything about.

In August, we started having lessons at college in a town pretty far away, which meant for me that I had to rent a room and live there on my own during the week, only coming home on the weekends. I've only recently returned home from college after four months, only to go back to work the next day. I haven't had a single day off within the last six months. 

I've come to loathe college. Just like everyone else seems to. It isn't much different from school actually though. In fact, I'd say the only difference is that the teachers don't want us to call them teachers and we're handed out the whole syllabus at the beginning of the course of studies. Of course the subjects aren't the same and most of the people at college say that it's a lot more matter, but that doesn't really seem to bother me since I don't really think it's that much harder than school.

At the beginning of September, I've met a friend of mine who I lost touch with over the last few years. We've had so much to tell each other about what happened since we last met and afterwards we texted each other daily. It felt as if we had never been apart, we were just as close as we used to be.

Then we met once more last week and it all changed again. We haven't talked much anymore after that and I really miss it. it was supposed to be a fun day we would spend together, but it wasn't for some reason.

Now, finally, in December (after a whole bunch of exams last week), I'm back home. It doesn't feel like Christmas is approaching though. I was working 8 hours a day this week, meaning that I'd leave the house at 5:45 in the morning and only came back home at 5 in the evening. I didn't feel like I could do anything much at home because I didn't have any time at home. And this is what my life will look like for half a century from now. But I will get used to the rhythm and find the energy to do things at home again.

I wish I hadn't taken the decision to study tax law and instead had waited until next year to study what I actually wanted to. On the other hand, if I had decided to wait, I wouldn't know anything more now than I've known six months ago. I think I've grown a lot more mature within half a year and I wouldn't want to miss that.

My year 2018 was incredibly eventful. I've graduated from school, taken tough decisions, met up with an old friend, lost touch again and taken my first steps into work life.

I'm wishing you all the best for 2019. Have a merry Christmas and happy New Year!