My 22nd Year

October 20th, 2009 at 10:19 pm.

My 22nd year was, in the truest sense, a life-changing year. My life right now looks almost nothing like my life did last year:

Last year, I was in the midst of high school-like drama. This year, I’m teaching high schoolers. Last year, I was drowning in homework. This year, I’m the one giving it. Last year, I didn’t feel any older. This year, I feel about 100.

In the past year, I traveled half-way around the world. I moved back home and moved 3,000 miles from it. I graduated college. I became a real-live adult. I got my first paycheck over $1000. I partied in Vegas and fell asleep at 8:00PM from exhaustion. I went from being endlessly bored, waking up at 10:00AM regularly, to endlessly stressed, pulling myself out of bed at 5:30AM. I made some new friends, visited some old ones, and moved back in with some cool ones. I’ve cried more times than I can count, over friends, over stress, and over leaving behind an amazing city and four years of (mostly) fun.

But now, I’m entering my 23rd year. I welcomed it with a group of 32 teenagers belting out “Happy Birthday” as they ran into my classroom. I welcomed it with ridiculously large homemade cupcakes with contraband candles burning on top. (I told them not to bring fire to school!) I welcomed it with hand-made cards thanking me for “helping us with problems and being a wonderful teacher.” I welcomed it over beers with new, amazing friends who truly understand how old I feel.

While my 23rd year most likely won’t seem as life-changing on paper as  my 22nd, I’m thinking that by my 24th year, I’m going to be an entirely different person, and for today at least, I feel kind of OK with that.

5 notes ( Reply )

  1. rachel
    Oct 21, 2009 @ 9:34 am

    i’m wildly different at 25 than i was at 23… 2 years makes a huge difference in the person that you are and how you see life, it’s nuts. :)

    happy birthday gorgeous. love you.
    .-= rachel´s last blog ..The Love Story Project =-.

  2. Kristan
    Oct 22, 2009 @ 3:42 am

    :)

    Happy birthday!
    .-= Kristan´s last blog ..Like crack, but better =-.

  3. 52 Faces
    Oct 22, 2009 @ 3:13 pm

    Hello again! It’s been a while since we blog commented each other :)

    Happy Birthday! I celebrated my 29th birthday with my high school students this summer and they brought in cards saying, “Happy 40th Birthday.” I love teen humor.
    .-= 52 Faces´s last blog ..30% Readers Think I’m Crazy =-.

  4. 23
    Nov 21, 2009 @ 9:57 am

    Hi there!

    Just happened to stumble upon your post and I just found myself moved to respond. First of all, happy birthday (and congrats on your accomplishments!!) One thing that struck me about your posts is just how similar it seems you and I tend to express the way we think and feel about life – it’s kind of uncanny (at least the little bit I’ve read). I myself am on the verge of my 24th birthday, reflecting nostalgically (most would say sappily) on the previous year. One year ago I found myself in one of the deepest periods of confusion, uncertainty and doubt I ever had. Although my life on paper looked amazing, personally it was as if the polarity of my moral and objective universe had suddenly reversed; I didn’t have much hope for 23. Well, to be more correct, I couldn’t imagine, with how much had changed, how much I’d grown stepping out into the real world, that the same amount of change and growth could be possible in the coming year. One major difference, on the eve of my 24th looking back to the same time last year, however, is that that uncertainty about the future (partiularly whether it will vindicate the choices – and the people – we’ve chosen for ourselves) is no longer my enemy. What I’ve learned is that the only real choice we make is whether to row with or against the current: the river of life ultimately determines our destinations. Moving over into the passenger seat – i.e. having faith that the decisions I made could only lead to good things because life is good – I find myself in the same position today I was in one year ago: bewildered at how much can change in a year. To sum up, you’re on the right path, friend, and don’t be surprised if life takes you by storm and you end up nowhere near where you thought you’d be come next year, life is the journey and can only be enjoyed in motion.

    Sorry for the sappy new-age talk, just wanted to send a wish for a happy birthday.

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