Another year, another recap! I'm writing this one a bit earlier in comparison to the previous years I have done this, but I'm unaware of any major life changes happening in the next 5 days that would warrant a section within this yearly recap. I'm starting to develop a bit of a pattern here with these recaps, so I'll stick to it again this year. Here's what I've been up to!
In the 2024 edition, I said I wanted to Write more Blogs! in 2025. Ultimately, I failed! As much as I do enjoy writing and getting my thoughts out, I'm not much of a blogger. I have been journaling, but that's private and for me only. I tend to have shorter and more concise writings in there anyway, and long-form blogs honestly just end up low on my totem pole of importance. I won't lie and say I'm going to try to write more in 2026, because that's just not true. I do enjoy writing, but not enough to write very often. Not that they're Shakespeare material, but I also don't want my writings to get too convoluted and lack in quality, which I fear would occur if I forced more writings out of myself anyway.
In all honesty, I didn't set many more goals for myself in the 2024 recap. But who wants to talk about 2024 when we're in 2025 anyway?
As it had been forever, 2025 began with baseball being the center of my life. College baseball had been tough on me, and going into my senior year I was determined to make some sort of impact. I remember I used to sit in my dorm room and manifest myself going out and having an incredible season, because who doesn't? Up to that point, my college baseball "career" had not been good by any means and dreaming was all a bench player could do. And not to toot my own horn, but having an incredible senior year was exactly what I did. I went from a career below-average player to being the best offensive player we had, and arguably our best overall player. It was the best baseball I ever played, but to say it was nothing but sunshine and rainbows would be a lie. The entire season, imposter syndrome was kicking my ass. I was not supposed to be our best player, a guy that was not good by any means before. Who was I to be this good? I vividly remember all of these thoughts crushing me throughout the season, and yet I played on and continued to play well. It honestly wasn't until the last 2 weeks or so of our 3 months season that I truly had the confidence I wanted to be at my best. Ultimately, despite our best efforts, we did not win our conference championship like me and many others had aspired. We came extremely close, and a few close moments that will forever play on loop in my head could have been the deciding factors. I'm not one to hang my hat on a "what-if", but sometimes you can't help but think.
While all of this was happening, I started interning for the Cincinnati Reds in their Business Analytics department during the spring semester, which (at the time) I thought was a perfect fit. My background of analytics and my love of baseball brought together, and it was honestly a dream. This internship lasted from February all throughout the spring semester and into the dog days of summer, where I ultimately left in September for a better opportunity. Throughout my time there, I made many friends, learned plenty of skills, and had a ton of fun. Special thank you to Paige Smith and Bryce Dugar for their help, and everyone else who helped me along the way. You know who you are, I miss all of you!
Once May hit, I was a free man. I graduated Cum Laude from Mount St. Joseph University with my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. I was working full-time as an intern with the Reds still, but I began my life as an adult, and honestly felt the transition pretty quickly. I began paying student loans, starting paying my own rent (which my parents' had taken care of while I was in school, thanks mom and dad!), and any other bills or trips I was now on my own. I felt myself transition into adult life, and to this day I still have mixed feelings. Some days adulting sucks, some days adulting can be fun. Having money and free time without worrying about homework or exams is nice, but deep down I know I will not consistently have as much fun as I did during those 4 years of college. Among other things, I fell into the traditional pipeline of "ex-athlete turned golfer", and began hitting the links every weekend as my main hobby if you will. Still need to work on my slice!
Another big goal of mine even going back to the 2023 edition of these recaps was to start flight school, and this year I actually did it! Once I took a new job opportunity in September, I ran my budget numbers and decided to just go for it. I'm 22, and the time (as I am beginning to learn) is never better as it is now, so why not? Unfortunately, with starting late in the year, many weather factors have made it a slow start (cold, windy, shorter days), but that hasn't discouraged me. Flying has always been interesting to me for as long as I can remember, and I'm incredibly excited for what 2026 will bring on this path.
Another small but memorable milestone was I took my first vacation with my Mrs! We took a little weekend getaway in the hiking hills of Kentucky, got a cozy little cabin and spent our weekend hiking, canoeing, and sightseeing to celebrate our 1-year anniversary. Nothing special, but we paid for all of it ourselves which was pretty cool to celebrate!
Looking forward to 2026, one major thing I'm very excited for is snow skiing. I was raised in a skiing family, but have taken a 5-year hiatus from it due to the risk of it affecting my college baseball career. Now that I'm done with that, I can go back to skiing, which I already have plans in the works for early 2026 to go on a trip. Guess I'll have to report back next year!
Other than skiing, I don't have any definitive goals set out for myself for the new year, so we can start the conclusion. I said the same thing last year, but 2025 was arguably the best year of my life. Even though I started adulting, it's honestly not as bad as I thought it would be. Having my own free time to do whatever I want is very exciting, and I can't wait for what's next in 2026!