Hello, I'm Bee!

August 2025 Update!

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening everyone!
Today, I finished my last summer semester at University. I graduate next spring with my Bachelors of Science in Meteorology. I guarantee when that day comes, it will be a very ugly cry.

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January
Struggled with classes, struggled with expenses, but overall my situation was slowly getting better. I managed to decrease my December expenses from ~$1750 to ~$1300. Most of that money went to rent, utilities, groceries, and Wi-Fi.
My mental health struggled due to the election and subsequent war on progressive ideology. Many of my programs lost grant funding due to the administration, and many of my friends (including myself) felt unsafe as LGBTQ+ protections were rolled back.

February
I started focusing more on my classes and my health, often going to the gym and working on building muscle. I started researching exercises and how to gain muscle, I want to say it worked out very well! Though I was not losing weight, I was losing fat and gained that weight in muscle. Despite the wrist surgery last year, I am now fully capable of doing push-ups without pain or assistance. My expenses decreased further, to ~$1200 for the month since I started shopping at Aldi’s instead of Publix.
In terms of mental health, I had a personal situation among my friend group that led to one of the biggest mental health crises in my life. Between the uncertainty of this administration and the stroking of past traumas, February was a very dark time for me. However, this is also when I met my now therapist. My friends also intervened and helped me out, and I am extremely grateful.

March
I focused on school, but I spent my spring break visiting my partner. Corporations made life difficult, but March was a solid month that I rather enjoyed. My financial situation was getting better. My mental health, while still bad, was doing much better than February.

April
As I was wrapping up my Spring semester, things were looking good. My classes were very difficult and sometimes felt unfair. My classmates, who had become close friends by this point, helped me lock in. Entering the middle of April, my mental health had started to recover. That’s when…
On April 17th, 2025 a right-wing extremist shot up my university. I managed to escape just a moment before it happened. While I thankfully did not know anyone who was injured, this date will forever live in my head.
Between the events that happened at the Ybor City Shooting in 2023, the Parkland Shooting in 2018, and the numerous times I’ve had a gun pointed at me… I cannot say this was a first for me. This was yet another mass shooting that impacted my life. So obviously, I mentally checked out.
I managed to do a little work to straighten my grades, and the school was very accommodating offering optional final exams, but this was still an extremely disturbing situation.

May
After the semester ended, I relaxed. I spent a week with my partner on vacation and focused on rebuilding my mental health. My physical and mental health worsened, and I let myself buy a commission for the first time in a few months. I used the month to get over the horrors of a toxic roommate, and I planned for the long trips I would be making during the summer semester.

June
I started working on my new internship, and I also spent a lot of time at home with my dad. I also managed to visit friends as much as possible until I had to buckle down and focus on work. I switched medications per new doctor’s orders. A “specialist”. These medications did not work and gave me a relapse of my intense acid reflux, crippling me throughout the second half of the month. Eventually by the end, I was feeling better. Until…

July
I was sick. Fever, a little cough, sinus issues, and a lot of fatigue. I went to see my primary care and we ran a bunch of tests. Negative, negative, and negative. Eventually, I felt better and he gave me a clean bill of health. I left next week to visit my partner. When I flew in, I felt alright for a day. The next day, my body gave up on me. I felt useless, the fatigue was so bad that I had trouble lifting my fingers. The insomnia was the worse part. I had managed only 9 hours of sleep over roughly 5 days. It was horrible, and I looked and felt awful. When I got back down to my dad’s house, I saw a doctor once more and heard the news… I was positive for COVID-19.
I tested positive using an at-home test a few days later. I was finally negative on July 22nd, which is when I drove back home to finish my Summer Semester and internship. Turns out, there was a massive wave of COVID-19 sweeping through Florida, and I may have either picked it up at University, or traveling to see my partner.
Now it’s August and I have just enjoyed my 24th birthday, I finished my internship, and I am about to submit my final work for my last Summer class.
However, I will be spending the next 2 weeks without a permanent place to stay, as I will be moving tomorrow and my lease starts on my new apartment on August 15th. This will be yet another difficult challenge for me, but I will overcome this as I always do.
My financials have improved. My health definitely got worse (are soon to improve!). And I am also starting singing lessons. Hopefully I can find easy work as I enter what appears to be the hardest semester in my academic career.

Thank you for reading.
I will be at Megaplex this year, so please feel free to say “hi” if you see me!
Please take care of yourself, and bee safe. <3