August 28, 2019 | The Year of Yes

​It is currently 1:53 am and for yet another year I am lying in my dorm room attempting to readjust my sleep schedule. The time difference from Honolulu to New York City is six hours, and with each trip back to school comes a time warp that is still difficult to overcome, only made worse by my inability to sleep on airplanes. My mom says that writing our thoughts down helps us find clarity, or at least helps alleviate the racing in our heads that prevent us from falling asleep. Right now, it is absolutely worth a shot.
 
I landed back in the city for my final year of undergrad at NYU three years to the day since I moved into my freshman dorm and started this crazy chapter of my life. I got a lot done at home this summer– I finally secured a driver’s license after years of being too scared to get behind the wheel, and had the amazing opportunity to intern with two awesome places that pushed me and taught me about different parts of my field of study. I’m excited to be on a roll in my life, and don’t want it to stop, which is why this fall will mark my year of yes. I’ve had so many great opportunities during my undergraduate run, but know that I tend to say “no” too quickly. I'm always too nervous, too cautious, too fearful. I am an introvert, albeit a deceptively talkative one, and often shy away from chances to meet new people and push my comfort zone. Friends from various parts of my life have encouraged me to be more open to opportunities, and at this transitional period in my life, it only seems right to go for it. This being my last year in college, it could be argued that this sudden spur of productivity could be attributed to an “Oh My God, I’m running out of time!” realization – and that is absolutely correct! That said, better late than never. I’m resolving to say more yes. Writing this piece here is one of my first steps. I’ve been meaning to write more about me and my life, again at the encouragement of my mom (we love a supportive parent!) She told me a friend at work thought that coming from where I do and moving to where I am makes for an interesting take on the world, and it should be published somewhere. She encouraged me to write a blog, and it’s only taken eight months to finally have the guts to make it happen.
 
So hi. My name is Meghan, and I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. It wasn’t that great – loving family, kind community, perfect weather and delicious food… who would want that?! I was incredibly lucky to grow up where I did, and beyond its stellar reputation as a beautiful place, Hawaii’s location meant that I was raised around and with an appreciation for my home’s unique natural, social and cultural ecosystems. When college decision time rolled around and I turned 18, I took a leap of faith and went headfirst into an environment that could be described as the polar-opposite to the world I was raised in. I was headed to New York City, the Big Apple.
 
Since moving for school, I have learned and grown so much as a person. With my parents on the other side of the country, I’ve become more independent (although I am still turning to them for assistance more than I should.) Being raised in an amazing community in the middle of the Pacific to taking a crash course on adulthood in a big bustling city, sometimes I need to take a step back and process how I got here in the first place. While of course it’s rather self-important to believe my perspective to be * entirely unique, * my life and the two places I call home do, as Hannah Montana would say, give me the best of both worlds. This is simply a place to cast my thoughts out into the vast void that is the Internet. For me, this is a documentation for me of how I’m navigating my life right now, somewhere to place thoughts that might’ve felt just interesting enough to pen outside of my journal. If you're still reading this right now, congratulations – I can't believe you made it this far! Thanks for reading, and welcome to me!