I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22......

For my 22nd birthday, I was lucky enough to explore the American Writers Museum with my friends. Embarrassingly enough, I was late to my own celebration, and although a couple of friends were not able to meet up with us that day, we enjoyed our time with each other nonetheless. As soon as I stepped inside the building, I saw all my friends united and they hugged me despite the fact that I was late. We were all very confused with the levels of the building. Turns out the museum is small and only occupies one floor in that building. There are other offices and even medical facilities which we awkwardly discovered as we were playing with the elevator buttons. Once we got off on the correct floor, we received a friendly welcome. We got in line to purchase our tickets (I messaged everyone beforehand to bring their school ID!). With my Student ID, I paid $8. This is the same admission fee for seniors. Kids are free! So if you know a young one who loves literature, this would be an amazing place to bring them! If you are not a student, senior, or a kid, then regular admission is $12. The museum is opened Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10-5, and on Thursday from 10-8. If you want more information click here.

Right after we paid, there was a wall of complimentary bookmarks. Truth is, I grabbed more than one bookmark. It was so hard to choose among many writers! There were bookmarks of Hemingway, Dickinson, Thoreau, Fitzgerald, just to name a few. I'm a sucker for bookmarks, and I was even more excited as I explored the museum and found out that I was able to personalize my own bookmark! (it was e-mailed to me and I had to print it out. I chose Sylvia Plath books in case you're curious). One of my favorite things about the museum was the wall of words. There were two projectors by the ceiling that filled the wall with words that created poems and quotes from different writers. I spent a good time chatting with my cousin and my friend while we sat down to watch the wall display change. Below is a picture of me standing next to the wall.

Besides the wall, I loved how interactive the museum was. It was like a literary "museum of science and industry" for adults, but of course, kids would enjoy this museum too. They actually have a section dedicated to children's books. We had so much fun playing a "madlibs-style" poetry game, in which we had to guess the words in a poem. That game had my favorite poem, "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop. I learned that day that I do not know the poem well enough, unfortunately. We took the most pictures at the section where they had the old-fashioned typewriters and the modern ones (a laptop). Below is a picture of me pretending to write but actually trying to figure out how to work that typewriter.

I joked with my friends that if I was a writer back then, I would have given up already. There were different styles of typewriters and I struggled with each one. If anyone that works at the museum is reading this, please put instructions next to the typewriters! At the top,^ some of my friends have figured out how to use the typewriter. One of my friends wrote a poem about my birthday and another one wrote a poem to his girlfriend.

To tell you the truth, it was not until college that I realized that there are people in this world that are like me. When I was in high school, I was the weird kid who read psychology and philosophy and would join the drama club every year. But now I have friends who might not share all my interests but have a strong appreciation for literature. I have friends who I can yell "BAE!" with when we see Gwendolyn Brooks (who was in the museum and very much deserved to be there), and friends who I can talk about confessional poetry to and will not get annoyed or weirded out. I'm finally 22 and I have wonderful friends who support my writing goals and are on their own literary journey as well. That being said, if you have a friend who reads, you have a friend worth keeping.

I made it after all!!

On May 7, 2017,  I finally graduated College. I officially have a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Distinction  in English  and Honors (something I never thought I would achieve in my life— the Honors and Distinction part). Quick story about my academic life: I was never on the Honor roll in elementary school, in fact, I was that kid that would go to summer school. I did not misbehave in any way, school was just difficult for me (especially math). I also struggled with ADHD. During my Junior year of high school, it was up to me to change my attitude towards school and that was when I decided to dedicate the rest of my high school years to "fixing" my grades (I remember listening to "Change" by Taylor Swift— I also listened to it as I was studying for my last finals this past semester.). It wasn't until the summer of my freshman year of college that I decided to give medication a try. After a week of taking medication, I quit the medication because I would frequently receive headaches. Soon, I knew I was to handle this without medicine. After changing my major so many times, I decided to give in to my passion for writing, and I majored in English. I became a Writing concentration— what I should have been since the beginning. Since then, I was nominated to be in the Honors Program and was given a very generous scholarship that covered the tuition of the second semester (Junior year). Not only that— but with the extra money that I had from my scholarship, I was able to study abroad to France! Indeed, I have been very blessed and I am so glad that changing my attitude towards school and improving my grades led to this. Also, throughout my years, one song that I would listen to for motivation was "Love is all around," the theme song of the Mary Tyler Moore Show! So of course, decorating my cap to say "I made it after all!" was very meaningful to me (I bet very few people knew about this show since it's from the 70's).

So the ceremony went great! Well, it was crowded, but everything turned out beautifully. I did not think I was going to tear up, but when I saw my name on the Graduation booklet, and saw that I was one of ten students in a class of about 400 to graduate with both Honors and Distinction, I could not hold my tears any longer. When I went up to receive my diploma, I may or may not have walked by very fast across the stage in attempt to not be the center of attention for long. After the ceremony, I took pictures with my friends outside, and here is one of the many beautiful photos, with my fellow English Major friends: 

Eventually, I was reunited with my family and we went Downtown Chicago to take pictures by Buckingham fountain (it was freezing, and I only had my gown for warmth!) Here is my attempt of trying to do the "hat up in the air" Mary Tyler Moore pose: 

When I got home, I went outside with my sister to take more picture, and here's a picture of me looking like I'm off to save the literary world (well maybe not save it, but help spread it!) 

Now that I am someone with an English degree, I promise to spread literature and share it with others for the rest of my life. 💓💙💚💛💜