1. Qualifying – twice – for the National Spelling Bee.
2. Receiving poetry underlined in green – which means good things – from Al Haley, my creative writing professor.
3. Becoming a book reviewer for Shelf Awareness, after reading it and loving it for three years.
4. Seeing my name in print in Radiant and ACU Today (and online in various places). Thrills me every time.
5. Every single time I’ve been offered a job. Because it means they picked me.
6. Mastering the long list of regulars – and their drinks – at the Ground Floor, so I knew everyone’s name and order when they walked in the door.
7. Sinking a basket in a seventh-grade basketball game (the only one I made all season).
8. Finishing my master’s thesis.
9. Living abroad, by myself, for a year – I had a strong community around me, but that year tested me in important ways.
10. Living alone in my own apartment for a year (the year before I moved to Oxford).
11. Knitting a whole sweater – big, chunky, a little lopsided, but an actual sweater.
12. Moving across the country to Boston – nearly a year ago now – and beginning to make a home here.
13. Singing a solo at the coronation ceremony before my senior prom. (And surprising everyone who thought I was just a bookish flute player.)
14. Giving the salutatorian’s speech at my high school graduation.
What are some of your triumphs? I’d love to hear them. I think we all deserve a cheer sometimes.
cakes, tea and dreams 