As of today, I am 25 years old.
When I was five years old, I don't think I would have been able to comprehend what it would be like being older than 20. However, I did know that I wanted to become an astronaut because I wanted to float around in a space shuttle. This desire did not change even after the Challenger disaster.
When I was 10, I think I thought that by the time I was 25 I would be in medical school preparing to be a brain surgeon or something. Oh, and that I'd also be enrolled at Harvard or Stanford.
When I was 15, it didn't matter what I was doing when I was older, as long as I had a girlfriend.
When I was 20, I thought that I would be in grad school, pursuing a master's in history/journalism/computer science.
Now, I find myself in a situation that I didn't foresee when I was younger.
At the age of 25, I am underemployed, undereducated and unsatisfied. But, I have some goals and I have a fair idea of what I need to do next to achieve them.
I am, most of all, optimistic. But, I'm also realistic about where I might be in five, 10, or 20 years.
(I'm going to totally in a space shuttle, with a hot girlfriend, and a Ph.D in brain surgery from Harvard.)
When I was little I wanted to be a lawyer because my name meant "from the court." Then I wanted to be other things, then I found out the "court" was not the one lawyers work in, and now I'm in law school. Weird.
Just wait until you turn 26! Then the introspection will really hit hard. Mwahahahaha!
Oh, wait. I'm going to turn 26 in a couple of weeks. Shit. By now I should be writing New York Times bestsellers in between my jobs as a Hollywood stuntman and a nationally syndicated talk show host.
Sho means "brilliant" in Japanese, which might be why I wanted to go to an Ivy League school. Actually, it was probably because I grew up in an Asian family with high expectations.
When I turn 26, I'll try to keep the introspection off the blog. I'll save that for when I'm 30.