Reflections on a Birthday Post

Catchy title, huh? I think it kind of has a poetic/musical sound to it. Hehe, music geek. ;-) In this post, I am going to reflect back on the past year. Why? Because I can and because today is my birthday. :-) Gosh, that almost sounds weird saying. I cannot believe another year has gone by. I can only imagine how I will feel another 22 years from now. So, here are some highlights from this past year and some valuable life lessons I have learned.

In no particular order:

1) Graduation- After 4 years at the University of Arkansas, I made the walk across the stage on May 14th to finally receive that empty degree holder. I eventually will get my actual degree sent to me as soon as I finish the online Ethics class I am taking. I cannot believe that 4 years have gone by! Honestly, I still feel too young to be graduated and looking for a job or going on to get a Masters. I loved my time at the U of A and I am so fortunate that I had the opportunity to go there. Go Razorbacks!!

2) Space Camp- This is probably the most recent highlight for me of this past year. I had the wonderful opportunity to be 1 of 16 people selected to go down to Huntsville, AL for a Space Camp tweetup during the last Space Shuttle launch. I learned a great deal and I am still learning more everyday. I actually just stepped away to go watch the International Space Station pass over here in AR. It was a beautiful site and a wonderful birthday present. I wish I had grown up learning to love science and math. I believe it is never too late to learn something so maybe this next year sometime I will take a math course or science course and really work on those things. I think about the shuttle program that is coming to an end. I also look at the math. Meaning, the shuttle program began in 1981 and a lot of the current astronauts were still in college at the beginning of the shuttle program. Currently, we do not have a "replacement" program for the shuttle. There is still time for me to potential pursue that path. Yes, it would take a lot of work and more schooling, but if given the opportunity I would take it. One of my favorite movie quotes is from Contact: "If it really is just us, it would be an awful waste of space." I do believe that! How amazing and beautiful is the world and universe that we live in??

3) St. Paul's Episcopal Church: For the first three years of college, I really did not attend church anywhere here in F. The beauty and the sense of awe led me to try out St. Paul's. Yes, this is way different than what I grew up in, Baptist. I feel like I have found a place that I belong in and that I can always ask questions in. The questions part is important to me because I do tend to ask questions. They were more than willing to talk about those questions and the answers. The warmth and love from this church has amazed me and I will miss it a great deal.

4) Life lessons: I have always been living in my own little world and have been oblivious to what others can see. I, as far as I know, did not know of anyone smoking illegal substances in high school. Same thing with alcohol. This continued throughout college, even though I know it goes on everyday, maybe I just choose to ignore it. But, in the past few months my eyes have really been opened to this thing called life. It is messy! People do things and say things that I, again, knew went on, but could not bring myself to actually see. Sounds funny coming from me. I guess, maybe I am just a simple minded person. This point is honestly hard to articulate in a post so I will leave it at this. Life is messy. Things happen. People are not always what you believe them to be. That is okay. Everything will work out in the end.

5) I have an "old" soul: Hehe, this may make since to only a few people, but here goes it anyway. I believe I do not look at life the same as any other 22 year old. I think I have always looked at life differently around kids my own age. I prefer to hang around the "older" crowd-no, I do not think you are old ;-)-because I tend to get along with them better. I have no problem sitting around on a Friday night watching a movie by myself, but I also like to go out and have a drink with friends. I like the idea of a set schedule and something that is familiar to me. If that makes me old for my age, I am perfectly fine with that! :-)

6) True friends are not the friends that tell you you have no friends and that no one likes you. True friends are the ones you can always count on and not be afraid to be yourself around. If you are afraid to speak up in a friendship because you are afraid of losing that person, then maybe that person is not as good of a friend, if even a friend, as you thought.

Those are just a few of the highlights from this past year. I hope you all enjoyed an insight into my life. Stay tuned for the next blog post because it will more than likely be from VA! Thank you all and have a BEAUTIFUL day!

S.