In this blog I want to do a little something different. I’m a very reflective person who loves reminiscing on good times in the past, and I like to think my preferred currency in life is not money or things, but experiences and memories. I would so much rather go somewhere new and have an interesting experience than buy something.
This time is tricky for me now because I feel those interesting worldly experiences have slowed, and it makes me nostalgic. I feel worried about spending my 19th year, what feels like the beginning of the prime of my life, stuck in the house.
However, I find it helps to think about and be grateful for all the incredible experiences I’ve had in my life so far, and remember an unimaginable amount are still yet to come. So, here are a few of my favorite moments in life so far.
1. The Rodeo
Growing up in Houston, Texas, the Livestock Show and Rodeo is a huge deal, ingrained into the culture of the city itself. From celebrating Go Texan Day in elementary school to attending my first concert to hanging out at NRG stadium with friends on weekend nights in high school, the rodeo represents a fun part of my state culture and childhood.
Typical Rodeo events include watching bull riding, pig racing, carnival games, and consuming an obscene amount of deep-fried food (deep fried Oreos in particular). I didn’t even realize the Rodeo was unique and somewhat strange thing until I was describing “mutton-busting” to my Penn State friends and heard the words “so the little kids see who can hold on and ride the sheep the longest” come out of my mouth. No matter, the Rodeo still holds a special spot in my heart.
2. Grandpa’s Boat
My grandparents live in Austin, Texas and nearly every summer since I was a little kid, we’ve gone boating and water skiing on Lake Travis with the family on my grandpa’s boat. Some of my favorite extended family memories involve skimming across the lake at break-neck speed on an innertube laughing uncontrollably with my cousins. All the grandkids learned how to water ski before we even in double digits, and since I’m the oldest grandkid, it was so fun to witness the younger kids stand up on skis for the first time.
The best part was standing at the bow of the boat, arms outstretched Titanic style, with the wind whipping your hair and face, looking out at the way the boat cut through the water. If the sun was shining bright and the light hit the water just right, it looked like a million little diamonds sparkling across the entire surface of the lake.
3. Paris Night
When I used to live in Belgium, I played for my international school’s soccer and basketball travel team. Instead of travelling to the next city over like we would do in the States, we’d travel to places like Paris or Amsterdam for a game.
(Fun fact: Amanda Lowe in this class also lived in the Netherlands the exact same time I lived in Belgium and played sports too. We figured we probably played each other overseas at some point when we were both twelve: crazy small world.)
But instead of staying in hotels, we would do “housing” where we would stay at the house of a random person on the opposing team. Kind of strange and would never fly in the U.S. but ultimately a cool experience. One such time I had a game in Paris and that night my houser asked around 10 pm if I’d like to do something fun. I was skeptical but decided to go for it.
We took the metro with her dad and eventually arrived at the Place du Trocadero smack dab in front of the Eiffel Tower. It was breathtaking. The night was pitch dark, not a cloud in the sky, the entire tower was lit up in a sparkling display of white lights, and not a soul besides us was there. We sat a sipped hot chocolate and danced on the checkered plaza and I thought to myself “I can’t believe this is my life.”
4. Rainbow Trails, Colorado
I’ve mentioned before I’m a nature nut, but this experience takes the cake. I went on a four-day, three-night backpacking trip with my church group and dad as a chaperone in the beautiful Colorado wilderness, surrounded by breathtaking mountains everywhere you turned.
While it was one of the best experiences of my life, it was also one of the hardest. We were roughing it: no bathrooms, no toilet paper, drinking water from rivers filtered through gravity bags, and carrying 50-pound packs with everything we all would need to survive for four days on our backs. It was all worth it when we peaked Mount Baldy. After roughly three hours of grueling hiking, some places in the underbrush with no trail, we finally reached the peak of the mountain.
One of the happiest moments of my life was standing up there with my dad, doing a full 360 turn with an uninhibited view of the entire valley, eating a celebratory Snickers bar with my friends. Best Snickers I’ve ever tasted in my life.
5. Penn State White-Out Game
Like many of y’all know, this game was special. From the record crowd, all decked-out in white, to the cacophony of unimaginably loud noise that caused Michigan to call a time-out on the first play of the game because they couldn’t even hear the play, this game was when I realized how special Penn State football and culture really is.
Surrounded by my newfound friends and the amazing relationships I had already built after coming to Penn State not knowing a soul, I felt so happy and proud of the life I had built and the place I could call home. We Are.
Writing this blog and reminiscing on these memories was the highlight of my day and a much-needed morale booster. I strongly encourage you to jot down a list of some of your favorite memories in life and remember that there was an incredible before and there will be an incredible after.