TEN YEARS WUT.
Ten years ago, I was 18. I hadn't missed a day of school since 2000, I wore a kilt five days a week, I accessorized with ribbons, and I carried more books than could fit in my L.L. Bean backpack. In a word: DORK. Not surprisingly, these were my likes (top box) and dislikes (bottom box) in the yearbook:
Chem II 4 lyfe
For the most part, I still love and loathe these things, except that I've finally made peace with Times New Roman. Moving on...
My favorite musicians are still pretty much the same ten years later but who cares because let's talk about my FAVORITE GUY. "Adorkable ones who smile a lot" was definitely code for Gordo from Lizzie McGuire.
SWOON. Lizzie, this is what dreams are made of!!!
While my own (amazing) tastes haven't changed much since 2004, the world sure has. I sometimes feel like I went to high school in a different era. No Facebook, no cell phone, no i-anything. My friends and I would talk for hours on our house phones or on AIM (those antiquated things). I rarely thought to go out by myself; it didn't even occur to me to walk the few blocks to CVS.
Back then, I was SO sheltered. I had never been on a plane. I was inconveniently terrified of driving AND public transportation. I'd only been to one concert and that was with my dad (though we saw David Bowie, so, respect). I'd never had a job, and when I did get an internship in Philly at the end of senior year, I only left the building to walk to and from my dad's car at the beginning and end of the day. I had yet to pick a college because I didn't want to think about leaving the safe confines of my tiny all-girls' school.
Running down the hall in capes. High school in a nutshell
Fast-forward to 2014. I've got two advanced degrees, as well as a full-time job using said degrees (both of which are in English!). I just spent an amazing year living in Philly. I can get almost anywhere via bus or train, and I'm hardly ever home.
Sometimes, in the day to day craziness and minutiae, it's hard to realize just how far you've come.