Last week, our Facebook overlords kindly reminded me that it had been one year since I accepted Temple University’s offer of admission. The journey began long before that point, of course, with applications, the GRE, campus visits, etc., etc. But for all intents and purposes, it has been a year since took the plunge and committed myself to the #gradschoollife at Temple.

I’m sure the purpose of this feature is to spark nostalgia and reflection, and naturally to fuel ad revenue. I’m sure Facebook will be happy to know that they have succeeded in the above, as I’ve been reflecting upon the past year and how stark of a difference it has made in my life.

In some ways, the hardest and most intimidating part of the process was the decision to actually move to Philadelphia from Baltimore, a city that I love and that feels like my home, as anyone who knows me can attest (sorry not sorry, all). It was scary and stressful and exhausting and lonely and sometimes miserable. But I did it. And I think this first hurdle has made it so that any other challenge I’ve encountered along the way has seemed trifling in comparison, or at the very least surmountable.

Five years ago (heck, even three years ago upon my graduation from college!) I would never have dreamed that I would present on a conference panel, much less that I would plan, organize, and execute an entire conference. This summer I will work as a Fellow at the American Philosophical Society, attend the Victorian Society in America Chicago Summer School, travel to Savannah and Hartford for my job at the Decorative Arts Trust, and see an exhibition opening at the Independence Seaport Museum that features labels I wrote about World War I. Part of me is still shocked. This year has likely been the most productive of my entire life, and I literally had no idea I had it in me. Discomfort is the origin of growth? Maybe so.

Obviously I could not have done these things alone- another important lesson of the past year. For that, thanks are in order, specifically to Chelsea Reed and Rachel Craft, who I am lucky to call my friends, colleagues, and teammates in conference planning, budgeting, marketing, and orchestration; to Michelle Fitzgerald, Jacqueline Cast, Ted Maust, Gary Scales, and Holly Genovese, whose infectious enthusiasm, staunch encouragement, and brilliant ideas keep me striving for bigger and better academic things; to my supportive and inspiring adviser in the Temple History Department, the marvelous Dr. Hilary Iris Lowe; to my terrific and talented public history cohort; and last but never least, to my husband Peter, who gets it, and who embodies patience, kindness, and all of the other facets of love.

Thanks for getting maudlin with me. May your discomfort urge you on to growth!

P.S. Seriously: Baltimore.