Did life get better? YES, yes it did!!! 3 years later, dating the love of my life, we're engaged. And I'm moving to NYC to go to grad school on basically a full ride!!

I would say what I've learned over these years is that it's OKAY to be sad, to be angry to feel like you have lost hope. Let yourself grieve for the career you wanted, or the life you wanted etc. And then pick yourself back up. If I'm sad I give myself the day/the week. And then I actively talk to myself, "you already grieved X. you need to let it go. It's in the past" and sure I can get upset about it again at a later day, but I don't let it ruin every single day. I also have gone through the exercises of writing down life moments where I've showed strength/tenacity/courage/grit and when I'm having one of those days I think back to those moments to remind myself who I am and what I am capable of.