I had to give it everything I had. If I failed, I could accept that. But I knew that if i did things halfheartedly and they didn't work out, I'd always have regrets. -Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Since I've lived in DC, I've wanted to be a great many things: a journalist working at overseas bureaus, a public relations problem solver, a diplomat, a student, a bartender, a writer, and even an actress. All my childhood dreams collided the moment I stepped foot in this city. It's a cerebral city that feels like a small town; it fosters ambition and makes you want more.
DC drives aspirations because so many talented, smart, well-connected people live here. But ultimately, DC isn't a city for dreamers; even its most iconic monument is on the straight and narrow, structured, designed to aesthetically please without breaking any rules. It endlessly appeals to the intellectual and realist and very soul in me. I think I learned to be a dreamer and a romantic, but I was born with my nose in a book and my sights set on somewhere and something that was more.
I have such big goals for the next few years: expanding my freelance writing career, taking the GRE, graduate school, and joining the Foreign Service. And for the first time ever, I see how all the seemingly arbitrary choices I've made along the way - studying in South Africa, teaching English in Japan, starting this blog - have led me to this moment right now.
bylines...
