I have been waiting to see this show since 2015. I’ve talked about it with almost every single person I’ve interacted with over the past four years. I’ve listened to the soundtrack on my way to work, at work, at the gym, on runs, in my car, in my friends’ cars, at friends’ houses… And for the first time, I listened to the soundtrack after having seen the show. Two days after seeing Hamilton live, I put on “Cabinet Battle #1” (not even a sad song) and I started crying. I just burst into tears. I finally achieved this goal. For four years it has been my dream to see this show and experience the magic first hand. I’m thrilled I saw it, it was everything I imagined and more, but now, I don’t know what to do with myself. What do you do when you finally do the thing you’ve been dreaming of? Obviously, I have other things in my life that I’m working towards, but this was such a big part of my life for so long. I am now left wondering:

What comes next?

It’s horribly cliché, but fall has always felt like a transition period for me. For most of my life (and for many others), it’s the transition from summer break back into the school year. But even post-school and post-college, big changes have happened for me in the fall. Fall of 2015: I moved back home after my internship ended in NYC. I had hoped it would lead to a full-time job but unfortunately, they didn’t have a position available for me at the time. (Ironically, this internship was my first introduction to Hamilton) Fall of 2016: out of the blue my supervisor was let go and consequently, I took on a new role at work. Only a year out of school and I went from being a Junior Designer to a one-woman design team. Fall of 2017: after trying to make my new role work and realizing it was no longer a good fit, I left my job to pursue freelance. Fall of 2018: I took on a new role as an adjunct professor, transitioning from student to teacher.

And now here we are: Fall of 2019. In the past three weeks alone I’ve been incredibly lucky to see one of my favorite bands perform live (Vampire Weekend), I traveled to a place I’ve never been before (Hawaii), and I saw this incredible show that I’ve been dreaming about for years. So much has happened and yet something still feels off. I feel a change coming. It’s time for me to take my next step and conquer my next challenge. I’m not sure what my next challenge will be, but I am sure that no matter what it is, I am not throwing away my shot.