A recount of my 21st year of life

Well, I'm still alive after 21 years of life, and I've actually managed to do some really cool things so far. A lot has happened in this past year that has had a major impact on my choices and perspective; this post will aim to recount a few of the life altering events that have occurred, such as...

1. Learning how the Real World works

The Lab

In June of 2011 I accepted a full time job as a lab technician with a super awesome crew, starting immediately after I graduated (I did that in this past year too). Once detached from the floaty wings that was parental funding, I took the deep, dark, frigid plunge in to what most consider to be the Real World.


After 5 months of swimming on my own, life isn't too rough. I've learned a lot of things along the way, but the the main thing I've learned is that the general population is neither intelligent nor helpful. Well, I've always known this, but dealing with adults rather than college aged kids, I've drastically changed my tone from more optimistic and patient to demanding and stern. Things never get done by using a passive tone. It usually takes a metaphorical (and sometimes literal) backhand to a face to get things moving, which I'm becoming surprisingly efficient at delivering. And although that learning to hit people is the only thing I have in common with Chris Brown, it certainly isn't the only thing that I've learned this past year. I've also been...

2. Hanging out with Dan Mahoney too much

Unfortunately, I've let him in to my mind.  We both know how much of an impact he's had on my thoughts and perspective. I've learned when to yield a point of argument, my humor has become a bit more judgmental and "politically incorrect," and I've really stopped talking to the people that I get along with on the superficial level. For the first time in my 4 years of riding, I have a training partner that is now equally as fast and fit as I am. Only with Dan can I yell "AWWWW SKEET SKEET GOD DAMN" While tempo'ing at a heart rate of 194.  He also introduced me to something wonderful, which has led me to...

3. The development of my love for Volleyball and other non-traditional UO sports.

 Well, volleyball became my favorite sport to watch in person. The team is straight up awesome. One of my very few regrets in college is that I found out about them in my 4th year here. This left me thinking; what other non-traditional sports here are fun to watch? Of course, I enjoy football and basketball, but I also started to attend tennis matches, softball games, track and field events (although I've always gone to those) and the occasional women's basketball game. This has definitely redefined my love for sports, as I take in much more than just the sport itself, but rather the personality and enthusiasm of individual athletes.  

Other events that happened when I was 21:

• I went to Collegiate Nationals for Cycling (although we all know that I was just a little undeserving)
• Got some pretty sweet tan lines going 

• I've made over $150 and had 100k views on a youtube video 
• Co-authored my first soon-to-be-published academic paper on Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.
• I've been a subject with Esophageal temperature probes, arterial line catheters, had my veins stuck over 100 times, and lots of other invasive/not fun things for science

• Received lots of benefits and prizes, including t-shirts, free meals and being on ESPN for signs I've made

Overall, I'd say I've had a pretty solid 21st year of life. Here's to hoping that the 22nd is even better.