Exceedingly and Abundantly.

"We were literally suffering 24/7" Zoe said to me yesterday as we reminisced on our traumatic college experiences together. I was feeling nostalgic, mourning my graduation and 25th birthday weekend celebrations, drowning my sorrows in a strong cup of french pressed coffee and the Severn River. I remember going into my senior year of college ready to start my life. I knew I wanted the young adult aesthetic. I dreamt of making a home out of some overpriced studio apartment in downtown Annapolis three flights above a coffee shop. I anticipated the reality of being a mid-twenty individual moving to a new town, fighting loneliness and watching my weight. I knew I'd have to bid adieu to Penelope, my yellow VW Bug, and all the drunken best friends she had transported at 2am. But all these realities swelled into a greater reflection that was the past five years of my twenties. I remember at 20 years old being in my first apartment in Harrisburg, PA, sitting alone in the dark writing a list of 20 things I wanted to do before I turned 25. As a new 25 year old, it seemed only fitting that I revisit that list.

1. Take a trip to a state I've never been to before -- New Bern, North Carolina, 11/11/2016

At 16 years old, freshly licensed, my childhood friend and I promised each other we'd take a road trip together. It took us four more years to get there -- but we did it. I remember sitting at some sketchy gas station at the Virginia/North Carolina border checking this off my list at that exact moment that she drove my Volkswagen Bug across the border.

2. Take a college class -- Graduated from Millersville University-- 05/09/2020

I'll be honest -- this one I'm pretty proud of. I always had a passion for writing and (at the time) a desire to teach writing. On December 15th, 2016 I completed my first course of my college career as a BSE English/Education student with a concentration in writing studies. It took me two more years of extremely part time schooling to realize I hated teaching and writing studies is not what I had in mind. I dropped my education major like it was hot and upgraded from a concentration in writing studies to a minor in African American studies. While I completed that goal of taking just one college course, with diligence and determination, I finished a four year degree at a original pace that should've taken me six. Congratulations to ALL the classes of 2020.

3. Pay of all debt -- 10/01/2017

Ok. This happened at one point. But then I got a degree.

4. Start a blog -- 4/26/2017

And here we are, three years later upgrading the skeleton of this website to pass my English capstone that I need to graduate. I didn't cheat by not making a new website -- I'm just being resourceful.

5. Be a mentor -- 2/17/2020

Originally I thought this looked like a youth group leader or a volunteer in the Big Brother/Big Sister program. However, my goal of becoming a mentor became the best accomplishment on this list when I was gifted Cree and Andrew -- my Little's in Phi Sigma Pi. No amount of positive adjectives could describe the nobility of these two.

6. Learn to invest -- 11/01/2015

I got a 401K through my first job. I didn't really learn how to do it, but Fidelity did, so I took the liberty of checking it off my list anyways.

7. Read 50 books -- 12/01/2019

College kind of threw a wrench in my leisurely reading time, but the Rona helped me over-achieve that goal. I've ended with 83 books read.

8. Swim in a waterfall -- 06/17/2018

This wasn't some wild waterfall that you move to your "dream vacation" Pinterst board, but it was a waterfall, nonetheless.

9. ***Donate my hair -- 10/02/2019

HA. This could've happened but I had an emotional breakdown that lacked self-control and the ability to even entertain the idea of doing a greater good. But alas, I did cut all my hair off.

10. Take horseback riding lessons -- 09/01/2018

This was fun. There's not much to say about it because horseback riding doesn't really need an explanation.

12. Get on an airplane -- 8/19/2019

I tried to avoid this one. I was determined to do everything else on my list EXCEPT THIS. On August 19th, 2019 I flew out of BWI on a non-stop flight to New Orleans with an old friend. It was the best thing I've ever done for myself. The hardest, bravest, thing. Since then, I've been on a plane two more times -- one to Clear Water, Florida, one to Charleston, South Carolina. The memories are incalculable.

13. Sing karaoke -- 09/12/2019

God, I miss college. I miss college bars and avoiding old roommates. I miss watching my friends get trashed on $2.00 pints of Heinken while we sing in a drunken chorus of "Allstar" by Smashmouth.

I'm sure you can count -- I did not make it to all 25. However, I'm OK with that because some of them were just dumb anyways. But I think of that world I wanted to see -- that young adult aesthetic I wanted to create. Without regret, we trashed Penelope and got a practical red sedan that takes me to and from Washington D.C in the exact industry I wanted. I look out of my bedroom window of my reasonably priced, waterfront, two bedroom apartment, only one flight of stairs above a coffee shop. I don't feel lonely and I'm definitely not watching my weight. In the morning, I walk streets lined with United States Naval Academy Class of 2020 flags knowing that those flags actually mean something to me. At 20 years old I made this list, and over the past five years, I checked it more than twice. It held me accountable for creating the world I wanted to see. Make that list, guys. Color coordinate it, keep it somewhere handy, and get excited. Let's circle back around in five years and see what we've come up with.

"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height...now unto him that is able to do exceeding and abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us".Ephesians 3:16-20