I've been home for about a month now, and I've decided that it is again time to sit down with my thoughts from my adventures in Iceland and figure out what direction they are pointing me in--if it the same as before, or if it has again shifted.
I am slowly (I repeat: slowly) refining my big plans for the rest of my life: what I want to be doing, where I want to be doing it, etc.
Overall this year was a very formative year in my life. Between academics, athletics, good friendships, not so good friendships, family, grocery shopping, and traveling, I like to pretend I learned a lot.
I have concluded that I am indeed still following the right path for the time being. I may have to do some weed-whacking along the way, but the general direction is more than acceptable at present. I mostly base this assessment on the people I have encountered with the same passions as I have. I have decided that if my peers for the rest of my life are similar to those wonderful souls I met in Spain and Iceland, then I will always be in good company. When it really gets down to the wire I think it matters what you have surrounded yourself with, and I intend to keep surrounding myself with good, happy, motivated, driven, intelligent human beings that want nothing more than to leave the world a better place than we found it.
One of the best concepts I have embraced this year is "Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow." Clearly a difficult question to answer if you don't know where you want to be tomorrow, but I think even if you have the general direction you can live each today very presently but with an eye to how it will shape your future.
I have been afforded every advantage in life: a supportive family, a happy home, a good education, and the ability to lead a healthy life style. I was lucky to be born in a free country where I could do and be and grow despite my gender. I was allowed to dream, to imagine, and to create. I hope I never stop doing these things.
"Learn as if you'll live forever--live as if you'll die today." -Ghandi
