If you're reading this, I turned 21 on March 19th. That's not scary at all!! In 9 years I'll be 30. That's not scary either! Last year for my birthday, I wrote "20 Lessons I Learned In 20 Years," and I figure I couldn't do that again. So here's just a little reflection about my last turn around the sun.

When I turned 20, I still had a lot of question marks. I didn't know that I wanted to pursue public health as a career, I didn't know where I would be living during junior year, I didn't know how my friendships would play out for the rest of the semester. When you think about how you perceived the future in a past tense, it's really weird. My greatest example of this is the feeling I had when I thought about attending BU, versus how I feel now toward the school and my life here. In our society, we keep pushing toward the future with bright eyes and huge ambitions. I definitely didn't have that feeling last year.

I kind of feel the same once again this year. I love my birthday and if you're friends with me, you would know how I like to make it all about me and be the cliché birthday princess, but you kind of just have to deal with it. So it's weird that this year I just feel kind of...blah about it.

So much has happened in my life since I turned 20: I got a finsta, I had a death in my family, I took a baby step toward what I want to do after graduation, I had a really great semester school-wise in the Fall. I think II don't give myself enough credit, though. I tend to focus on bad things rather than the great, and I've definitely seen that reflect in my mental health.

I know people make resolutions for New Year's, but that's not my favorite holiday and I don't get the hype around it, so I think I'm going to have some resolutions for my 21st, starting with focusing on the good things and truly cherishing the happiness I feel during those moments.