After a month of being 19, I realized I passed a few major milestones whilst being 18. I got to buy my first couple lottery tickets, winning exactly 26 dollars and 14 cents. I got to leave the country without a parent, was able to enter strip clubs, buy cigarettes and finally order off of those late night infomercials, and ended up buying one of the most comfortable pillows I have ever used to this day. But I also learned something’s about myself, deeper than any of those material items I was now able to buy/things I was now able to do.

I am the youngest of my friends, so by the time I was finally turning 18, all my friends were 5-7 months deep into this milestone age. From losing friends, to developing new, to gaining new experiences (not all positive) to opening up to new people…I had changed. From learning new things about the world and how it works, to discovering new ideas of how to live, I had become a well rounded, and more spiritual person. I realized that sometimes people don’t always have to come in the shapes, sizes or ideas you have for them to make you happy. I was so concerned with finding people to get along with, that I was “supposed” to hangout with, but later realizing those were the kind of people only bringing me down. I had met a best friend from half way around the globe; I had met a boy who made me feel extremely beautiful and smart (two things I never had ever felt). And then there was the small town girl, who made me feel like religion and values do truly create good conversation.

By the time I was 19, I had moved half way across the country by myself, changed my name, and opened up a new chapter I had never even known existed within my own mind. I tried learning more from the bible, and less from social media. I finished 16 books (more than I had read in my life), burned through 7 notebooks that I wrote poetry in every single day, and cut out 4 toxic people. I had developed a new sense of direction, a new set of values.

Religion was a new thing, too; I realized depending on a higher power was something missing in my life. Romans 8:28 “That all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who” or better explained as “everything happens for a reason”. I started to stop living for other people, and started living for myself. I became more familiar with a higher power, introduced myself back to my religion, and erased all of my past. Sometimes we are placed in certain places to remind us of who we were placed on this earth to be. Sometimes I forget that I am who I am; that I can remove my mask and become the feminine, powerful, feminist woman I am to this day.

I always liked to tell myself that every year I would name the top 3 things that happened. 1. I got into my top college choice: Michigan State University 2. I was able to watch Bernie Sanders change the world one speech at a time 3. I met a best friend from half way across the world.

18 did wonders for me; taught me to take one day at a time and that time heals. I cannot wait to see what 19 brings me.