20 Notes for my future self...
1. Friends will come and go.. but your family is forever. There's an unconditional love that will always be there for you despite the many times you argue, take embarrassing Snapchats (still don't have an account), or push into the pool.
2. Praying and meditating to God & Jesus is important and should be done consistently whether that is attending mass, praying the rosary, or reading the Bible. It should something that should not be done only in bad times but in blessed times as well.
3. Despite what you thought in high school, your body needs sleep. You are not a superhero. Studies show the effects of not having enough sleep so give your brain the mental capacity it needs to memorize that complicated organic chemistry reaction.
4. The only thing that is stronger than fear is hope. It is why being optimistic is vital to your mental sanity because sometimes being realist can lead to that circle of self-doubt and low self-esteem.
5. Self care. It's important. How can you take care of others when you cannot take care of itself.
6. It's hard to take Zumba as a serious workout when you used to swim 2 hours a day every week. But come on, it's pretty fun shaking that booty when it is "All About That Bass" *No Treble*
7. When your having one of those bad days, there is always a Sara Bareilles song that fits the mood.
8. Okay.. so maybe the whole music major & pre-medicine plan did not work out.. but you can still do some saxophone jazz improv with your brother and piano duet with your sister. Your whole music-loving thing is still there and has never left you. Plus... psychology major for the win.
9. You still dislike the taste of blueberries but the Bo-Berry biscuits are okay.. I mean for tasting like fruit loop biscuits.
10. Cookies & Cream for dessert. Philippine Mangos for life. Because you could seriously live off of these two foods.
11. The best study/works breaks were the ones when you volunteered to teach swimming lessons. Steven and Itza are some of your favorite students ever! I still find it funny that you've never actually had a consistent paid job teaching swim lessons. It always has been volunteering.
12. If you could teleport instantly, you would travel back to Spain to learn how to Flamenco dance and take run around the Parqué de María Luisa where it was never humid and never rained.
13. Your dogs are crazy spoiled but you spoil them even more anyway. Cleo, Dapple, Einstein, Xavier, Yoda, and Jerome. You always knew where their favorite scratching spot on their bellies were.
14. The tinikling is your hard core dance that you would challenge anyone to do. Because you consider it fun to jump between smashing bamboo poles..
15. Your proud to be an American-Filipino. You never want to stop learning about your culture, your identity, and your heritage. You continue to try to understand the meaning of being an Asian-American even though society and media tries to push its stereotypes and ideals in your head.
16. There's is nothing better than singing the UNC alma mater and proclaiming to go to Hell Dook. Especially when it is accompanied with rushing Franklin Street during college basketball season.
17. Your still trying to sort out your reasons for wanting to go into a career for medical school as a MD or DO because you don't want to sound too cliché. You have it in your head what you want but just can't find the right words to say it.
18. Your back-up plan is perhaps to further dive in your interest in neuroscience at grad school but if not you have also considered nursing or optometry as a second option. Sounds like a plan, or maybe I need to really form a better plan.
19. Making Sandcastles is a craft your still trying to improve on. You always enjoyed how it's a form of art that is never permanent in reality. (Of course that is until you take a picture of it and post it on Instagram)
20. Happy Birthday weekend!!!!! Your birthday always falls during the perfect time of year. Before the stress of school, always around Labor Day, and always allows you to celebrate it with your family and friends. It's a great time of year to take a step back and appreciate all the wonderful things that have occurred in your life good and bad.
Cheers to decades of more Birthday weekends in the future...
The Freshly New 20 year old Kirsten
