Tag: new year

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Five Years of Renrenspeaks – End of 2025 Recap 

Hello, Renrenspeakers! Happy end of the year! Can you believe that we have made it to the end of 2025? I simply cannot. Today marks the FIFTH anniversary of Renrenspeaks. I started this blog during the height of the pandemic, and to say that it is half a decade old already is just mind blowing. As yall may have noticed, I unintentionally took a year hiatus from my blog. I apologize for this! It has been a crazy, whirlwind of a year, but it is so good to get back in touch with you all.

This year has been one filled with so many emotions and life altering events. I’ve experienced significant changes, invoking sadness, joy, laughs, hurt, worry, and peace. Truthfully, the first few months of the year were tough mentally and emotionally. In January, I had to abruptly move to a new home in which I was not mentally nor financially prepared to do so. In February, one of my childhood friends suddenly passed away. This was the first time I experienced the loss of someone close to me. And in March, I felt overall job pressures, imposter syndrome, and burnout take a toll on my overall mental health. It felt like one event after another event tested my resilience. However, turning to my support systems, prioritizing self-care, and finding impactful coping skills really helped with processing the first few months of grief and uncertainty.

Fast forward to the second half of the year, I felt much better holistically. I was able to travel back home more often and spend more time with loved ones. As I get older, I am so appreciative of the roots that I have and how they’ve shaped me to be the person I am today. I witnessed beautiful engagements and unions of love, celebrated family gatherings, and saw people from many different chapters of my life that were pivotal in different time periods of my life.

I was also able to complete four out of five of my financial goals for this year! This year, I really focused on growing my financial literacy and hitting financial goals since this was the first year of starting my career. I have a HEFTY amount of student loans (shoutout six-figure debt club), and I’ve been able to pay $30,000 of it back so far. I feel incredibly blessed that I have been able to achieve such a feat, as having six-figure debt takes a toll on you mentally, financially and emotionally. I am very proud of the mindset shift that I obtained during this year when it comes to finances. Having such a large amount of debt felt embarrassing to talk about and share. Moreover, it felt extremely isolating especially when it can feel like other people are ahead financially. However, it taught me SO much discipline and patience in the process. I’ve picked up another job per diem to help achieve these financial goals, and I am very blessed and privileged to be able to have the stamina and drive to do it. I pray for and claim financial freedom hopefully by my mid-30s. I do believe it is possible for myself, as hard as the daily grind is. 

Going into 2026 will be an interesting year. I think it will be a time of great reflection and mourning to some capacity, as it will be my last year of my 20s– I CAN’T believe it! Some of my personal goals for next year are to continue expanding my financial literacy, pay these loans DOWN even more, pivot settings as an occupational therapist, prioritize sleep and fitness, and tap into my previous hobbies prior to graduate school. I also want to be more present on my blog, even if it is quarterly check-ins! Despite those goals, I really have no specific expectations for 2026. All I hope and pray for is that it is one of joy, growth, safety, and good health. I am thankful for another year of life, especially after witnessing first-hand how short life can be. 

We are that much closer to the next decade of the century. I am wishing everyone a happy new year! 

Peace and love,

Irene 

*In remembrance of Sarah. My sweet friend, you may not be here on this physical earth with us anymore, but you remain in my heart forever. I know you are made whole in heaven. Your spirit shines bright still, and you’ve changed so many lives around you with your testimony. ❤ 

Posted on in lifestyle

Celebrating Four Years of Renrenspeaks: A Journey Through 2024

Hello, Renrenspeakers! Happy end of the year! Can you believe it – we are wrapping up the end of 2024 and heading into 2025. This time tomorrow, we will officially be halfway between 2020 and 2030.

First, I thank God that I made it through the year to even write this post. Life is truly a blessing. One thing that has really hit me recently is that our days are numbered and are finite. I hope and pray for continuous longevity and covering over my life and the lives of others, God willing.  

Also, HAPPY FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RENRENSPEAKS.COM! Technically, it was yesterday (I am a day late!). This time 4 years ago I launched my blog. This has been a wonderful documentation of my life’s reflections. I can see as this blog progresses how much support and growth I have had in my communities throughout the years. Give ya girl some love to celebrate the anniversary!

It definitely has been some time since I last caught up with yall. This post is not focused on any one particular topic. I am here to simply share some of my reflections throughout the year and wrap up with some lessons I learned in 2024!

This year has been one of many ups and downs for me. It has been a HUGE year for me, as I have had many life changes, time to reflect, and growing pains/triumphs. Emotionally, I feel like I have been all over the place. I had some hard conversations and hard realizations that honestly made me so unsure of myself and my various identities at various points of the year. However, through those emotional hardships, I believe have blossomed into a stronger individual who can set boundaries, advocate for her needs, and create space for myself. And for that, I am really proud of myself.

Some highlights of 2024 that I have been blessed to experience include some, but not all, of the following:

  • Moving to a new home in a wonderful city central to many sights to see
  • Going to concerts and being outside more often
  • Cultivating a beautiful relationship with refugees/asylum-seekers through my capstone
  • Attending my first OT national conference
  • Graduating from OT school and becoming a Doctor of Occupational Therapy
  • Passing my NBCOT exam
  • My graduation party
  • Traveling around the country (Miami, Orlando, Philly) and internationally via my first cruise (Mexico, Honduras)
  • Attending a weekly Pyro Pilates class and sticking to it
  • Starting my first big girl job as an official OT
  • Building and rebuilding community collectively  

Going into 2025, I honestly do not know what the year holds for me. I am hoping that it is one of continuous growth, as always, in all aspects of my life – spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, professionally, socially, financially – and the list goes on! This will be the first year of my life that I do not hold the “student” identity, so discovering what my next life goals will be shall be an interesting journey, to say the least.

I hope to be generally more positive and have more faith in God for my purpose in life. I think I realized that many times in 2024, I was not truly operating out of faith and positivity, but rather constant fear and worry. As a result, anxiety and a lack of confidence crippled me at various times throughout the year. I want to be better in knowing that I always have God on my side to help me through life and encourage me because as we know, life be LIFING! I am not the only one who is feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders through responsibilities such as student loans, for example (and mind you, mine are a hefty one). I’ve learned that after persevering through my stressors, things always end up being more okay than I thought they would. I probably should channel more Type B energy so that I can live my life well-balanced instead of chronically stressing over little aspects that just may not be that serious at the end of the day.

I am also hoping to be more present on this blog, as it is something that I started during the height of the pandemic as a digital diary. I hope to create more mini blog series, highlighting various stories and life experiences of my peers, colleagues, and loved ones. It helps me stay connected with the world around me.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support me and love on me, whether it is through good vibes, prayers, social media networking, in-person quality time, etc. I am incredibly grateful for another year of life, and cheers to what the next year has in store for us! Happy New Year, everyone!

Peace and love,

Irene