A Quarter of a Century

     As of today, I have lived a quarter of a century.  I turn 25 years old.  Is my life where I expected it at this point of time?  Nope.  In reality, how many people are in the place they expected at a certain age?  If you would of asked be at age 18, when I had graduated high school, where I see myself at the age 25, my answer would be quite different from how my life is today.

      At the time of graduating high school, I would say that at the age of 25, I would be newly out of college, getting into the career that I dreamed of, living on my own with my best friends as my roommates, being a 4-H volunteer and having quite a few awesome adventures.  If you follow my blog posts or know where I currently am, I believe my 18 year old self would be disappointed.  I am still in college, with no true answer to when I will be graduating, still living with my parents, and currently have no job.  I do have some many adventures and I am a 4-H leader, so those things are true.  The big question is:  Does my 25 year old self feel the same disappointing that my 18 year old self would?   

      The answer is mostly no.  The world had changed since the time I was 18.  The economy had gone into recession, and many people my age are experiencing the same thing I am, or close to it.  Yes, I wont blame everything on the economy like a majority might at this time.  If I had been as serious about school as I am today back when I started college, I most likely would have been out by now.  I could have been in a good paying job and living on my own.  There are times that I regret goofing off in the beginning of my college career, but today I am proud that I got past the tough times, and sticked with it.  Especially when many people I know have dropped out of college, and their futures are not so bring in their career portion of their life.  

      I know that the first 25 years of my life have been amazing!  Yes, a few speed bumps, but who doesn't have speed bumps?  I have had so many opportunities and experiences, a loving family, and loving friends who will stick by my side in tough times and good times.  My life is good, and I can't wait to see what the future brings.  My birthdays are normally low key.  Just have a usual family bday dinner to a place of my choosing and a chance to hang out with my friends.  This year, because it is my 25th, things are different.  Instead of asking for gifts, or a usual family bday dinner, I asked for an trip.  I have traveled many places over California, but very shockingly I have never been to Santa Catalina Island.  A week from today, my family and I will be going for a small trip to Avalon, CA, on Santa Catalina Island.  This is my bday gift, and I am super excited.  Can't wait to get out there and to have more adventures.  

 Here's to three more quarter centuries of amazing adventures and opportunities!   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Earning a Masters During a Global Crisis

Image
The past fourteen months have been among one of the most challenging yet rewarding chapters in my life.  A rollercoaster of emotions filled with hope, fear, exhaustion, stress, sense of community, success, burnout, loneliness, and everything in between.  This wild ride began in February 2020, when I returned to school to earn a Masters of Science in Organizational Leadership (MSOL) from the University of Redlands.  The choice to return to school was two fold.  The first was to learn and overflow my toolbox with skills to be a stronger leader that will positively increase my leadership at The Wildlands Conservancy, the California 4-H Youth Development Program, and beyond.  The second was that it was the right time in my life to return to school.  I was financially sound with no debt, currently single with no family, and qualified for some financial assistance through work to help pay for the program.  As I stepped on campus for the first time for the program orientation in mid-February,
Read more

Reflecting on 2016

      2016 was a great year.  It was filled with adventure, life milestones, hard work, and possibilities for 2017.  Since I have not written on my blog for the year, I wanted to reflect on some of the changes that have happened.       As 2015 was coming to an end, I had learned that Executive Headquarters at The Wildlands Conservancy, which happens to be located next to our Oak Glen Preserve office where I was working as a Naturalist, had a position open for an Administrative Assistant.  I love working for Wildlands, and I would jump at anything to have a career working for Wildlands.  I applied.  We had an interview, and I thought I nailed it.  A few days later, our Executive Director paid me a visit at the Oak Glen Preserve office.  He had told me that they chose to go with a different person for the position.  Immediately, I became very upset (internally) that I did not get the position.  Before I had a chance to say anything, Dave said they had a different position for me.  Beca
Read more

Coming Out

Growing up was not always easy for me.  Throughout my childhood, I experienced multiple periods of bullying by different individuals.  These periods of time imprinted emotional scars that continue to influence my actions today.  Overcoming these scars have proved to be one of the most challenging personal battles I have ever faced.  My experiences with bullying peaked in late middle school to early high school; a time when many are discovering more of who they are.  To avoid providing more fuel to the fire, I tucked away certain thoughts, feelings, actions, and more deep inside.  Parts of who I am turned into a secret, in which was kept hidden from everyone (except for one person).  Words can never express the amount of emotional stress that followed to keeping a secret like this.  I went through many episodes of confusion, anger, sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness.  These episodes lasted all the way to college.  For help, I turned to the internet.  I began meeting people who were
Read more