25
Reflections on quarter life
On Saturday afternoon, I organized a little socially distanced birthday gathering with a few friends in San Francisco. To my surprise, Golden Gate Park was completely packed with revelers—and more jubilant than I’ve ever seen. As I walked towards the Conservatory of Flowers, my fellow park-goers spontaneously erupted into whoops and cheers, their applause and laughter filling the air like a thousand reveries.
It was a beautiful day to turn 25. The sweetest birthday gift was the promise of a new beginning: a democratic president and an era of less hatred, less division in a deeply divided country. To me, it signified that America’s next chapter will be restoring one key ingredient that has long been missing in civil discourse — hope.
As the nation celebrates Biden’s win, I find myself celebrating another year around the sun. And looking back at my twenties thus far, it’s hard to believe how quickly I’ve reached the midpoint. Half a decade of early mornings and sleepless nights, international travel and spontaneous adventures, triumphs and failures of varying consequence, and steady progress towards various milestones on the lonely, exciting and often confusing landscape of early adulthood.
The strategy I took to make sense of life in my early 20’s was as follows: I said yes to every interesting opportunity, casting…
