Golden Birthday

My mom got me roses in celebration of my 19th birthday at the beginning of this year. She said it was my golden birthday, so I deserved my first real bouquet (truth be told I have received flowers before, but for the sake of her excitement I may have kept this a secret). While roses are symbols of love and most often given by significant others, I felt just as happy receiving them from my mother as I would a romantic partner. When they were still alive, I watched them on my kitchen counter, admiring the beauty of the rose. As the most popular flower in the world, they’re undeniably beautiful, and in a way, they remind me of the woman I aspire to be. I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is, but roses radiate power, passion, and elegance. And, as I spend more time envisioning my future, I desire to see these traits in myself. I realize that at nineteen, I sit on the cusp of becoming a real adult (not the “adult” I supposedly became at 18) and have to make decisions that will either indirectly or directly contribute to my future. Although I try my best to hide my confusion, I honestly struggle to decide which profession I want to pursue. Before I began college, I was adamant about becoming a pediatrician because I love medicine + kids, but now my dreams are pulling me further from that. Though in any field I choose, my goal to empower others remains the same, and writing has always allowed me to do that. In high school my most memorable moments were in journalism, being on the staff of C Magazine (Okay, I was also the business manager, so cute), and I wanted to fuel that interest in a new way once I graduated. I contemplated joining Boston College’s newspaper, The Heights, but I wanted to create my own thing, and that’s when I had the bright idea to create this blog. So, that’s how I got here. I do not know where it’ll end, but I hope you like it :).

- With love, Fiza Usman