Shots in the Dark

In my life, I've always been really big on having a plan for things.

A plan for college, after college, a plan for the day (or the plan to not have a plan for some days) or, you know, a life plan in general.

Most often I thought this was a good thing. It pays to be prepared, and if I have all my ducks in a row (and back-up plans for these ducks) then everything would be easy, right? Almost too easy.

Well, family, friends, I'm happy to say that I don't really have a plan anymore. And I'm actually really happy for that.

My days since my return home have been filled with emails, laundry, and unpacking (only to start repacking, as I move in next Thursday). I've spent a long time pouring over the pictures I took this summer, the ones I hoarded and demanded. "Get together," I'd say, "it's time for a group picture!" And despite the groans and the requests for me to put away my selfie stick, I'm glad I documented every day of that trip. I miss the city, I miss my friends, and I almost miss the ignorance I had before I went.

That last one might sound a little strange and it's even harder to explain. Before I went to DC, I had the grandest plan. Graduate with honors and a bit of experience under my belt and a shining resume, then ship myself off either across Memphis or across states to Florida and find a nice job, a nice apartment, get some pets, move to a house, get a career... You know, a plan plan.

It was all about living a life of comfort, right? Following the path that others had set before me. Pretty easy. Ignorant of my potential!

Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

Everything got flipped when I started thinking about grad school. Though, to be honest, it started a little bit before then. My favorite course this summer out of the three I took was a course on Ethics and Leadership. The professor, Mike, professed that it was not Ethics we were speaking on, but Moral Philosophy. I'd never taken a philosophy course before, but was willing to go along with it because my other two courses were a bit disappointing.

And, to my surprise, I learned more in that course than I'd ever learned in any classroom before. I think this was due to the fact that in most classrooms, the coursework is external. Facts, theorems, hypotheses. (How does GDP affect this person? How does lobbyism work?) Whereas in this course, Mike's course, the dialogue was directed internally. Who are you? Why? What would you change-- how can you change? Why are we here? And much the like.

And I realized something. The path I had illuminated for myself was just one of many. It wasn't the only way-- there were more ways than I could possible imagine! But they required shots in the dark, because no one had done them before. At least, not in my family.

So, in light of all these serious adulthood events, I have decided to make some announcements in a child-like fashion.

"Grad School!"

"Learn more Languages! (Starting with Greek!)"

"Travel the World"

So maybe I'm going to depart from the path I set forward for myself and let things... go. I'll go with the flow and step over things as they come, and never stop reaching for my full potential. Other people have done it, so why can't I?

Now that that's all out of the way, here are my favorite pictures from D.C.:

My favorite room of the office building.

Mackenzie as a "Homo erectus" 

A magical evening!

Me and a my very good friend Allison.

The crew! From the left: Dimitris, Dan, Alyssa, and Adam.

The Brazilian steakhouse! Dimitris, me, Tatum, Dan, and Alyssa. 

This was an amazing experience!

The first ballgame I ever actually paid attention to.

Me and my high school BFFL Will (who happened to be in Dc at the same time as me!) 

The time I went to the "beach" and almost died-- the ball pit was 3-4 feet deep vs. my 5'3" height.

Einstein and I.

The last of the friend group eating at this delightful little Italian place nestled right into Chinatown!

The crew on graduation day: Me, Dimitris, and Mike!

The graduating group from my institute: Economics and International Affairs. I'm in the front row, just to the right of the sign! 

I'll never forget D.C. and I hope I never forget what it taught me!