Twenty-Three

What is age but a number? Especially when you’re like me and everyone seems to think you’re 6-8 years younger than you are (trust me – it’s not much of a compliment when people don’t treat you like an adult at my age). But there is something so special about the passage of another year in life that people go out of their way to wish each other a happy birthday. On the surface, it seems rather superficial. It’s a reason to have a party, to buy into consumerism and individualism, to celebrate ourselves. Yet there is something to be said for the opportunity birthdays give us to reflect on what we have accomplished over the past year. For me, 23 was a year for remembering who I am, and I hope that 24 will be a year for becoming who I want to be.

Finally getting our master's degrees!

23 was a very challenging but rewarding year in my life. I have accomplished many significant goals in my life in the past year – things I never in my wildest dreams thought I could achieve. At the beginning of 23, I successfully defended and submitted my thesis as the final requirement for my master’s degree (a semester and a half late) after much struggle and hard work. But right after my defense, I got to see The Killers in concert – a band I have been waiting what seems like my whole life to see. Thus, my year started off both difficult and exciting. In the winter, I was looking for a real job, but for the first time in my life I had the time to travel. It was really difficult for me to ignore the call of the world! Especially when I was finding dirt cheap airfare like $149 roundtrip tickets to visit Alicia in the Virgin Islands and $500 tickets to visit Peru with my amazing roommate, Katrina. I finally got to live the life I have always wanted to live this year. I have been so blessed with the opportunity to have so many friends all over the world which has allowed me to travel, and not just as a tourist.

 

I think my biggest accomplishment at 23 may have been completing the Disney World Marathon this past January. While I may not have finished with the best time, running a marathon is not something I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I could accomplish. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, right up there with finishing a Master’s Thesis, but I’m glad I did it. Life was by no means easy for me this year, but after all I pushed myself through this year, I know I can do hard things. And that knowledge, that belief is valuable.

The Baths at Virgin Gorda, B.V.I.

I am so glad I had the chance to try new things this year, like having Cuy (guinea pig) for dinner at a Cuscanian family’s home and bouldering (sort of) in the Caribbean. Even dipping my toes into academia with my Sociology degree was insightful. This past year has taken me to places I could ever only dream of in the past, and now that I have had so many amazing life experiences, I have come full circle to start my career in urban planning. It’s crazy how it all worked out, getting the job at Eagle Mountain through a phone interview I did while sitting in Charlotte Amalie with Mary near the beach, starting the job the day I got back from visiting Peru and then North Carolina for Trish’s wedding, then getting the career at Lehi, a city which Frank Gehry had once designed a building for! Cities are in my blood! It’s what drives my passion for both travel and planning, and my desire to both experience and change the world somehow. And this year, being 24, I get to start doing just that. I have an amazing career opportunity ahead of me in addition to several major (and cheap) trips planned which will allow me to see more of the world and get in touch with my mom’s side of the family in Thailand. 24 looks very promising so far and I cannot wait to see what this year has in store for me.

I spent the last moments of my year as a 23-year-old doing something I haven’t done in months: running. I don’t often feel like running, but tonight I did. I felt so alive in the brisk autumn night. As my iPod sang to me this evening:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broke wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Life will always bring heartache and disappointments but once you can learn to pick yourself up and make something of what you've got, life truly becomes beautiful.