Twenty-Three Things I learned at 23

1. I want to be an elementary school teacher.

2. Trying to save people who didn’t ask for your help in the first places isn’t a good idea.  Doing so might, in fact, make them a bit peeved.

3. An office is not and will never be a natural work habitat for me (see #1).

4. I have been unconsciously faking extrovert for the past ten or so years…

5. …and that, in turn, has made me rather lost unproductive in a lot of respects.

6. The people who are supposed to be in your life have a habit of showing up without fuss.

7. The Washington bus system is cheaper and less high maintenance than the Washington Metro.

8. Other people process the world differently than me, and that’s okay.

9. Social progress isn’t necessarily fluid or constant (or, America can, indeed, elect a narcissistic, misogynistic failed businessman as president in the twenty-first century).

10. Living your life in expectations is unfair to your potential AND to the time and very mortality of others (i.e. people aren’t mind readers and can’t know what you expect from them unless you tell them).

11. Following your gut requires a fine balance between acting on those feelings and trusting in the future.

12. Denmark’s public transport system is what dreams are made of.

13. The Potomac is no match for Minneapolis’ lakes. Says the Minnesota girl.

14. East Coast drivers are really aggressive. Like srsly. Take a chill pill, peeps.

15. Gone with the Wind is a massive whirlwind of a book, and I love it.

16. When a guy kisses you on the cheek three times in the course of a first date (I AM NOT YOUR TEDDY BEAR) and tries to find an excuse to stop by his apartment mid-date (“I forgot something there”), you can (and probably should) candidly reject a second date.

17. When a guy doesn’t have the balls to admit that a date was, in fact, a date in the first place (WE MET ON OKCUPID…IT WAS A DATE), you can (and probably should) candidly reject any further opportunity to spend time with him.

18. On that note, Boundaries. Are. Important.

19. I would always rather be happy than dignified (quoting Jane Eyre like a boss).

20. Deleting Snapchat and spending less time on social media are both A+ life choices.

21. Helping others makes me happy (see #1).

22. Being more self-aware and self-forgiving makes me happy.

23. In order to take life into your own hands, you must be willing to take some risks.

And what a year it was. Cheers to 24!