I’ll be honest, I am writing this quickly as a study break, so I don’t have so much time but I wanted to add some photos and reflections from today… it’s my birthday! (And a SUPER square day as well… 09/16/25 = 3^2/4^2/5^2 if you see what I mean!!)
Out of the ~100 kids in my grade, what are the odds I have a birthday TWIN?! Actually more likely that you might think, but still, it must be fate. ;D In the picture on the left is Emei, my long lost twin! We share the same birthday and even the same birth year. In my perspective, everything is better in pairs so I am super grateful to have a built-in birthday buddy for the coming 3 years (at least!).
This day was really, really special. I got lots of wishes from friends and family from home (I miss everyone dearly), and such a wonderful, huge surprise from my new friends here. Emei and I were led (with our eyes closed, might I mention) through the San Francisco streets to a park where all of our friends were waiting with flowers, cookies, cupcakes, and so much birthday joy to spread.
We had an amazing picnic with amazing weather, lots of chatter about life, and sooo much sugar to go around. Kept it sweet, for real!!
And when I thought the day was over, I was surprised YET AGAIN by a delivery of a left-handed can opener (ESSENTIAL for the dorm-life cooking; who even knew they made left-handed versions??) from my family and a box of cookies from Sarah (shoutout to my best friend from day #1)!!! My original plans to do homework all afternoon were pleasantly spoiled, and I am feeling really really grateful for all of the love that I have in my life.
I heard somewhere that 20 is just the start of your adulthood (i.e., at 20, you are a 0 year old adult). I’ll take this one and run with it because the thought of no longer being a teenager is kiiind of crazy to me and being a “newborn adult” feels a lot less daunting than being officially IN MY 20’s?! I was talking to my friends this morning about how people in older generations would be having children or getting married by now… and while these life milestones seem to be in my distant future, I guess I am still one year closer than I was before.
To my past self: Hey look at us, we made it out of the storm of being an angsty teenager!! I’d like to say that I’m a ~changed person~ now that I’m 20 and not 19, all mature and eloquent and whatnot, but I think there is a little kid that lives on within each of us no matter how old we get. I think that people can change, but not that much and not that fast. So while 13 feels like ages ago (and my 13 year old self would think 20 is basically dead), all of the dreams you have still live on inside of me. To your disappointment, I am not a polyglot fluent in 20 languages, but I still think you’d be pretty proud to see me now.
To my future self: I would like to say that you will not be totally flipped on your head and spun around backwards during this decade, but that’s only because people (including me) tend to think that they are the exception to every general trend. Realistically, this might be the most confusing, scary, and exciting time that you’ve encountered just yet… My only advice for you is that when you think you know it all, think again, there’s always something else.
And to whoever reading this, it may not be your birthday (if it is, that’s a wild coincidence), but today really reminded me that the whole point of it all is for the laughs that we have along the way. In 5 years, you probably won’t remember the assignment you’ve been hyper-fixated on for the last 4 hours, but you probably will remember the adventures, stories, and smiles shared between your people β so get out and make memories (no matter how small!!). Nothing lasts forever and nothing is guaranteed, so embrace it while you can.
Love,
Leah
P.S. Compliments to Emei for this lovely art!!
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