2016 In Review

I started off the first hour of 2016 outside Bar Martinique in Kreuzberg, Berlin, shooting fireworks at random people and clinking beers with strangers on the U-Bahn. In the early morning, I dragged my friend I was traveling with at the time, Jaden, to the train station, where we would be taking our hung-over bodies on a long-distance train ride from Berlin to Prague. We passed by picturesque little towns in rural Germany and Czech Republic, quintessential Polar Express towns blanketed with snow. Jaden wanted to go back to Berlin, and I encouraged them to do what their heart desired. From then on, I traveled completely solo for the first time in Prague, Krakow, and a bit of Budapest.

I came back to Rochester, New York in January 2016 with a fresh mind and a fresh start. This would be the first time I would return to the same college after one semester! I left my terrible roommate and housing situation. I quit premed. I dumped the whole Neuroscience shebang. I started doing what my heart told me to do, and studied what I felt passionate about, not what I felt I was obligated to do. I took some Anthropology, Women's Studies, and Theater courses, and I have not looked back since. I knew from that point forward that a more solidified pathway to my personal happiness, to my personal freedom, had something to do with following what I loved, whatever that may be. And that was the most valuable lesson I could have ever learned.

While undergoing the dramatic transformations the Social Sciences and Humanities so often does to a person, I spontaneously booked a flight to Japan for Spring Break. I didn't think, I just clicked 'pay'. Next thing I knew I was returning to Japan after two years. I fulfilled the promise I told myself when I first left Japan in 2014, that I would return again no matter what. And as if it was some kind of magic timing, I received a reading from the Meiji-Jingu Shrine in Tokyo:

「大空にそびえて見ゆるたかねにも登ればのぼるみちはありけり」

大空に高くそびえ立っているかわしい峰々にも、登って行けば、自然と登り得る道はあるものです。只必要なのは、頂上を究めなければ止まらない勇気と努力とです。昔は不可能と思われたヒマラヤ、アルプス等の頂上も勇気とたゆまぬ努力とによって、見事に登ることが出来ました。人生の行路も同様です。

Interpreted in many ways, I took this reading as a sign of encouragement - that what I was doing was the right path. Whether it be traveling, or studying anthropology, the path I was paving was the right way to go. And I will keep going. Even in times of great despair and frustration, I always pulled this reading out to remind me of where to go.

I came back to Rochester again, shaved the side of my head and pierced my nose. Why? Because I always wanted to and YOLO. I got to know Sophia from my Gender Studies class and she has become one of my closest, most trusted friends. I could never ask for someone better. I grew close to my Gender Studies professor, Tanya, whom became one of my trusted mentors that I am also eternally grateful for.

I turned 20 years old. I had a good batch of friends and people who loved me, people who celebrated with me. (Was I only 19 when all of this happened? And now I am only 20? Jeez)

I ended my Spring semester with a ton of travel experience, straight A's, and a profoundly changed mindset about myself, people around me, and the world in general. But I wasn't done. I half-assed my Summer plans, unsure if I was staying in the United States to do some internships, if I was going to work at the American Natural History Museum, or if I was going to travel somewhere. After some rounds of applications, my university granted me some finances to volunteer in Nepal. My summer in Nepal, Vietnam, and a bit of Thailand was nothing short of phenomenal. I did crazy spontaneous things, I met people from all walks of life, and I really started to see the kind of privilege I was born with. I came back to New York City, and observed New Yorkers in all their rudeness and unnecessary bourgeois attitudes. Materiality was becoming less and less of an importance for me. I realized how successful my mother and father were in starting at a fairly poor environment in their childhood to living in New York City with four educated and healthy children. I realized how lucky I was to have the opportunities my parents worked so hard to give me and the plethora of resources the United States and NYC gave me access to. All this time I was trying to figure out my career goals for purely self-interest. What would make me happy? What would make me successful? But coming back to this kind of post-travel depression and culture shock, I believed it was my right to take advantage of every opportunity I could get a hold of. My success would be for me, but it would also be in the name of all those who are deprived of such resources and privilege, simply because of where they were born.

Fall semester, I shared a house with my four wonderful roommates, Brandon, Justin, Sean, and Savon. I thought living with four guys would be a complete terror, but by the end of my semester, we were family and I love them dearly so. I took more Anthropology and Women's Studies classes, read intensive material, had intellectually stimulating class discussions, and added to my academic palette. I started sculpting my mind around new theories I was reading by Marx, Foucault, Freud, and more. I performed as an actor in a production for the first time and hated it. I had some small, short-lived flickers of romance for the first time in a while. My career goals were becoming clearer and clearer. I threw a few parties, and unlike this time last year, the house was full. I guess this is what happens when you stick to the same college instead of transferring every semester - you meet more people!

And now? Now I am nervously awaiting confirmation on my plans for the Spring 2017 semester. Will I pack up my bags and go to Jordan for 4 months as planned? Or will I go to the United Arab Emirates instead? Or Morocco? Or back to Rochester? Or none of the above and just take a break?

I leave 2016 with a note of uncertainty, but looking back, the path I have taken was surely one I was not expecting at the beginning of this year. Tracing out 2016, it still baffles me that this all happened within the span of one year, and that I am still only 20 years old. I have met so many people from so many different walks of life, and from a short exchange of words to lengthy conversations, I am thankful for every single person that has helped shape the person I have become at the end of 2016. I will continue to grow, and continue to courageously climb to the top of the mountain, paving the path I find to be surest way to my personal happiness and my personal freedom.

Here's to another year of great adventures!

"They say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

- Andy Warhol

"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but rising every time we fall."

- Oliver Goldsmith