My mom has a theory that whatever a person is doing, and wherever they are educationally, socially, and career-wise, at 25 will tell you who they are, and what their level of commitment/motivation will be for the rest of their lives.
So, that got me thinking. Am I still the person I was in 6th grade? What was I doing at 25? Are either of those ages who I am today? Are either of the theories right?
Let's take a look...
Sixth Grade:
What I think about when someone says "Sixth Grade": Ardenwald Elementary, Mrs. Davis (she was my teacher and was awesome! I still remember doing cool science projects and she had a pretty dog named Cinnamon that she would sometimes bring in to the classroom as a special treat), living in Oregon, starting my period (TMI, I know), being extremely emotional and having wild mood swings because of starting my period.
Pictures of me in 6th grade...
Here's a journal entry from when I was in 6th grade (complete with misspellings and horrible grammar):
May 8, 1994 - "Today is Sunday. It's Mothers Day. I made my mom a little jar with a fabric lid and a little bow on it. And also a little box I sewed with little hearts. Yesturday I went to Silver Falls with the young women. It was so fun. We hiked so far in to the Water Falls, that it took a long time to get back to the parking lot. And before that I spent the night at Jennifer Terrys' house. We stayed up till 1:30am. We were watching a movie called "So I Married an Axe Murdurer." It is so funny. There is a guy on it, I forget his name, but he is sooo cute. Yesturday we watched a movie called "The Rocketeer" There is a guy on it, his name is Clifford. He's sooo cute. I would die to marry him. Only he's older than me. Being in young womens is such a spiritual experiance for me. I think being in it is really going to strengthen my testimony of Jesus Christ. My only problem is I don't like giving talks in primary. So I'm going to die if I have give a talk in Scarement Meeting. Next year me and J.R. are going to a school called: Benjamin Franklin Acadamy. It's run by Mormons and you only go Tues, Wed, Thurs, from 8-12 and no homework! Well I gotta go so - Bye."
Clearly not much has really changed. I still fall in love with fictional characters way too easily and have multiple celebrity crushes at a time!
Age 25:
What I remember...not much. I was back living in Arizona. I had graduated with my Bachelor's degree and was working full time as the receptionist for Junior Achievement. I was living in Mesa in my own apartment and going to the Fiesta YSA ward over by MCC.
Here are a couple snapshots of me from 2007...
As you can see, my fashion sense (thankfully!) got significantly better between the ages of 11 and 25! The bottom picture is from our family trip to San Diego for the 4th of July.
Here's a journal entry from that year:
April 29, 2007 - "Mom and Dad's anniversary was yesterday. 26 years! So, to let them have the time together I had the girls come over to my place on Friday night and then they spent all day yesterday with me. It was fun. We watched some movies, and while Faith was at a birthday party in the afternoon, Julia and I went on a picnic with J.R. and Esther. It was such a beautiful day yesterday. We went to Kiwanis park in Tempe and sat in the shade by the pond. We fed the ducks and ate and laughed. Today I spoke in my ward. The topic was "Come Unto Christ." I kind of had a difficult time writing it. I really wasn't getting any inspiration until I sat down to put my thoughts together yesterday. But even then I wasn't satisfied with it. So, I got up early this morning and read through a few more church books and did some tweaking on what I had written down. It seemed to come out alright in the end. Lots of people came up to me and complimented me and thanked me for it. Mom, Dad and Julia came to listen to me. I made a decision last week that I am going to go back to school. I have decided that I am going to apply to BYU for Fall 2008 to get my Master's in History with the Museum Practices Certificate that BYU offers. I missed the deadline for this fall so I have to wait until February to apply for next fall. But that's okay. It gives me the chance to take a few classes at ASU that I'm interested in taking and gives me time to study for and take the GRE again. I need to try and get a higher score so I have a better chance of getting into the program. I called Kristy last Sunday to tell her and she is way excited about the possibility of me moving back to Utah and about us being roommates. It would be a blast to live together. Hopefully things will fall into place and things will go as planned. I'm really excited about this and want to do it."
What I find funny when comparing this journal entry to the one from when I was 11: Before I was exclaiming I would die if I ever had to give a talk and in this one I gave a talk. Clearly I didn't die. I actually remember writing this talk very vividly still, I'm not sure why. I remember waking up that Sunday morning and completely rewriting everything but it wasn't me writing it. I definitely had some divine help putting that one together. Also what's funny is the contrast in my attitude toward school. Before I was all about only having to go three days a week for 4 hours and not having any homework, and here I'm all gung-ho about jumping into a Master's program.
Conclusion:
I'm not sure if either theory is right, but it was fun to go back and do the comparison. I'm still overweight. I'm still awkward around, and have no idea how to talk to, guys. I still get overly emotional and have crazy mood swings sometimes. I did get a Master's degree, but it was in psychology, not Museum Studies. I've changed jobs and I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with my life. Kristy and I have yet to be roommates, but my fashion sense is SOOO much better than from when I was a kid.
At least I hope it is.
What do you think? Are these snapshots an accurate representation of who I am and who I'm going to be for the rest of my life?
