I can't believe I'm 26 now! It's weirdly crazy to me that I've existed for this long. For our birthday, my dearest friend and birthday twin sent me Sleeping at Last's Saturn. I was very grateful to be reminded of the majestic song and of these humbling words that always make me teary: "How rare and beautiful it is to even exist."
For me, it can be annoyingly easy to forget the beauty of life, especially when I'm struggling with feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. To counter these feelings, I work constantly on celebrating the good and happy things I get to experience, particularly any little or big milestones I accomplish. So, here I am–for the first post in two years–celebrating 25 accomplishments from year 25 (with some final words at the end, of course!).
1. graduated BYU
2. left BYU feeling grateful and proud for the growth experienced there
3. made friends during my final semester
4. studied for the MCAT in a way I felt was healthy and fulfilling
5. took the MCAT
6. reached my MCAT score goal
7. applied to med school
8. went to my first kpop concert (Seventeen, ily....even tho I saw you from the nosebleeds)
9. paid for med school apps by myself
10. mastered the flow in a part of Shong Lee’s song
11. work(ing) in a fulfilling job centered on people
12. visited NYC (Adrizzle, ily)
13. learned STATA
14. cleaned my research data
15. got my own health insurance (before I was kicked off my parents'! amazing!)
16. became a mom to a 2 year old (Snowy, i love you!!!)
17. ran a 5k (with my mom!)
18. made a vision board for my wall (anything you can pick out?)
19. felt comfortable and confident at Max’s wedding
20. gave a wedding speech that made ppl laugh (and myself cry, of course)
21. cooked my first thanksgiving dinner (did cornish hens instead tho because I ignorantly left my turkey out to dethaw in my car's trunk for a few days oopsyyy)
22. got better at articulating my needs
23. was a niam tsev for one meal and cooked a whole Hmong meal for a mix of family and strangers but mostly strangers that were family
24. taught Snow and Benny how to play hide and seek
25. had fun with Max and Polo in Canada
No matter who you are or where you are in life, I hope you're taking the time to celebrate you. At the very least, I hope you are proud of yourself for simply existing. Life can be hard and tiring, so existing in and of itself is an accomplishment. And it's because you are enough! I know that to my core.
And to anyone and everyone who has ever contributed time and love to who I am and what I do (including reading this post), thank you. I get to exist each and every single day because of you.