19 Lessons from Age 19

Today is my twentieth birthday.

What the heck. I’m 20. I am twenty years old.

Entering this new decade is strange.

I have a lot of thoughts about it but at the same time I have none at all. Conflicting? Yes. But from what I’ve heard about your twenties, that’s about to become an ongoing theme.

19 was an interesting year for me.

I don’t really feel the need to get into it because I feel like I touched on what I needed to in my 2018 Year in Review and I’ll touch on most of the things I would talk about here in my 2019 Year in Review. I review my experiences a lot on here and sharing with you the lessons I’ve learned this past year feels like a review in and of itself.

19 did start off well, though. I remember clearly waking up and being so happy the weather was exactly what my body thrives in. I went for a walk, went home and spent time with my family, and got to be outside as much as I wanted which is so, so rare. It was like a little birthday gift from mother nature.

Basically, there was some good, some bad, and no, I wouldn’t want to live through this year again. I’ve learned a lot. Here are 19 of those lessons I learned at age 19.

19 Lessons from Age 19:

Don’t type on your laptop with paint on your hands – even if the paint is dry.

Take advantage of free things and what is offered by your university – hello free large format printers!

Don’t be afraid of opportunity, say yes and then figure it out…

If the aforementioned opportunity starts to go south, get out before it’s too late, and don’t feel bad about it. You can always change your mind and say no.

I’m a much more private person than people think.

It can be hard to find a way and voice to change your situation.

It’s okay to cry. And cry. And cry. Until you can barely open your eyes because your eyelids are so swollen from crying. And then cry some more because you can’t open your eyes all the way. Sometimes it’s necessary.

Just because someone wants to be friends with you doesn’t mean you have to be friends with them.

Censoring yourself and your identity around others to make them comfortable is suffocating.

Sometimes laundry is more important than homework.

The maple flavor of the syrup doesn’t necessarily overshadow the garbanzo bean flavor in your vegan, gluten-free pancakes and that is why you should always include toppings – because the chocolate and raspberries helped.

Don’t use garbanzo bean containing egg replacement in gluten-free, vegan pancakes the garbanzo is overpowering. Unless you like garbanzo bean flavored pancakes. Then I say have at it.

It is okay to feel helpless about the situations around you.

Mary Poppins Returns is a great movie.

I like early mornings when I am in charge of them – and there’s no one telling me what to do before 9:00 am. Even texts with lists of things to accomplish that day will get to me. Mornings are great when mornings are for me.

Representation burnout is real. I finally found a word for what I’ve been feeling so often at college, and it’s representation burnout.

People who fix computers are liars. At least the ones who took two weeks to not be able to fix my computer and told me it would be only 48 hours are. Just… don’t let anything happen to your computer. That’s the lesson here. (just a note, this is completely unrelated to the aforementioned dry paint situation)

It can feel so good to make time for old friends. Whether it is physically making a trip to spend time with someone or setting everything aside and catching up on the phone for three hours, I did a lot of this over the past year and I am so glad I did.

Enjoy every meal as if you may never be able to eat that food again. Taking the time to appreciate the flavor and the experience of different foods is something I do not take for granted anymore.

So… Cheers to Twenty.

And I suppose cheers to my twenties. Not being a teenager is probably going to be a weird concept for a while. I am sure it will be a decade of adventure – but my kind of adventure.