Journal Entry #121: 02/03/25 - I'm 20 now

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The title says all. It's so weird being 20, even if I've only been so for about a day. My age just sounds a lot more serious now that I'm two decades old.

This birthday will likely be slotted as one of the better ones. I was gifted an Xbox-inspired Retro 87 keyboard, and I opened it up as soon as I woke up! I'll give it its own blog post at a later date. The day went on as normal when it came to classwork. I had an exam in discrete structures, but I think I did okay. After classes ended for the day, I went to my advising appointment to meet my new advisor. I really hope to keep this advisor for the rest of my time at the university. I have no idea what happened to my old one. After that, I picked up my textbooks for a class (there was a miscommunication, so that's why I picked them up so late). Then I went home and did a ton of work. This keyboard has really been motivating me, but I think that's just because of the novelty of it. I called my family around 6 pm and they helped me celebrate my birthday as I put candles on my cake and blew them out. I received a gift from ZZZ, which is sweet, and why did nobody tell me how sweet and wholesome Tomodachi Life's way of saying happy birthday is? The weather was also nice today. Overall, I had a good day. It wasn't too abnormal, but it didn't feel too standard either. What a perfect balance. 

This past week was pretty good, too. On Monday I went to a company/career info session. On Tuesday, I participated in an organizational event and gave a speech as to why I should be secretary. It went surprisingly well and I got the position. Though that's not saying much considering that no one was running against me lol. On Wednesday I went to a networking mixer and presented a project on a proof method that I misread. My team's poster was a total mess! Oh well, at least I learned something. 

On Thursday, I went to another networking event and got a professional headshot taken. Although I have yet to see it again, I don't think it looks that great. The networking event was fun, especially the speed mentoring. I also got to try tiramisu...and it was underwhelming. It tasted like edible coffee and I didn't like the texture. On Friday, I mostly relaxed and finished up my work. I had a preemptive birthday dinner from Tropical Smoothie Cafe. 

On Saturday, I had a friend take me out of town to a small town with an amazing cafe! I had an unsweetened matcha latte and a big blueberry muffin. The muffin was so fresh, even though I knew it was reheated. The matcha latte was also good, and I wish I had a better tool to mix the ones I make myself. Hopefully, I can get a matcha whisk soon. On Sunday, this same friend took me out to breakfast at a really nice place, and took me shopping. I ended up getting a cheap t-shirt, a bento box, and a boba pin. The bento box has already proven to be a smart purchase, and I can't wait to make cute meals with it! I also went to a small informal competition, which ended up being tons of fun. In fact, my team won! I was so surprised!

Lately, I've been a bit more career-focused. I'm the only one on the executive leadership in my student org who doesn't have some sort of summer experience lined up! Hopefully, I can remedy this; the career fair's in a few weeks. Also, I hate to get political, but the student org I work for was getting ready to tour NASA, only to have our (and many other chapters') visits canceled due to DEIA practices being rolled out. Bummer. 

Also, on a more superficial note, the mailroom at my current apartment sucks. There was a package delivered to me on Wednesday that has yet to show up (okay, apparently it was actually delivered on Friday). I have another gift that's supposed to get here tomorrow (we'll see). Oh, and about the keyboard, it has a corresponding mouse (that's sold separately) and it's somewhere between China and here lol.

Again, 20 is such a weird age. Ten years ago, I turned 10, and it was the coolest thing to me. And, well, 20 is also cool in the fact that I've lived for two decades, but aging as a young adult is slightly different from aging as a child. At least I'm not a teenager anymore.

Boa noite,

AstraGenesis ᯓ★

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