Just Start.

One year of writing about college admissions, parenting, and community

Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash

One year ago today, I hit publish on my first Substack post.

The idea for that first post had been bumping around in my brain for months.

I kept hearing the same worries from parents about college admissions and I was restless not having an outlet for it.

So I just started.

I did not have a business plan, a content calendar, or strategy.

After a post or two, several people asked what I hoped would come from writing publicly about parenting teenagers and navigating this increasingly complicated admissions landscape.

I did not have a better answer than I just felt like I needed to get it out there. I guess I trusted that clarity would come if I kept going.

It has.

So manymanymany conversations, phone calls, run-ins, and a mix of awe and bewilderment.

What I have come to believe is that there is not just an information gap in college admissions. There is also a loneliness gap.

Six years after the pandemic, many of us are more disconnected than we want to admit. We are craving spaces where we can say, “This is hard,” and hear someone respond, “Yes. It is hard for us too.”

This small corner of the internet has become one of those spaces.

I started with zero subscribers. Today, more than 400 of you are here. Thank you for reading, even if only sometimes.

Writing this Substack has taught me that uncertainty is often the beginning of reinvention. I have loved that I can write when I want to, not when I have to. Quite freeing.

It has also taught me that purpose rarely shows up with a full roadmap. Sometimes you begin simply because you cannot ignore the nudge. Only later do you understand why that small beginning mattered.

This past year has not been neat or predictable. It has been stretching and humbling. It has also been deeply meaningful.

As I move into year two, my intentions are simple:

To keep speaking honestly about this season of parenting.
To offer practical guidance alongside emotional truth.
To continue building a community where families feel less alone.
To remember that meaningful work is built slowly, one conversation at a time.

If you have been reading, sharing, or reaching out, please know that I am grateful.

If there is one piece of advice I would give any person sitting on an idea they cannot shake, it is this:

Start before you feel ready.
Start before you feel qualified.
Start before you know exactly where it will lead.

Believe me when I say that the clarity you are waiting for often only shows up once you are already moving.

Just start.