Last year, I completed a decade-long goal to visit all 50 American states before turning 30.
I road tripped from one ocean to the other, I went glamping in Montana on the way to Glacier National Park, and I attended the Houston (Texas) Rodeo after touring NASA, among other trips and adventures.
While visiting all of the states was a fun goal I accomplished, the point of sharing my travels is not to stroll down memory lane. Rather, the point is to share my background and what I learned along the way that led me to attend Oxford for an MBA.
My 20s were a decade of fun, for sure. But when I came up with my travel goal at the age of 19, I didn’t think I’d make it. I was a first-generation college student from a rural area, and I, like most of us, had no idea what I was doing.
My first ‘job’ was driving a hay bale truck at the age of 12 and, in undergrad, I worked everywhere from the school newspaper to McDonald’s. My paternal grandmother passed away when I was 17 and, at the age of 19, I learned that she never saw the ocean or left our home state. This changed my trajectory as it prompted me to create goals, and I never stopped chasing them.
I contemplated these things last year as I sat in a kayak in Alaska just before my 30th birthday. I reflected on a decade prior when I’d been on the cusp of turning 20. So much had been accomplished since then, I thought. What would my 30s hold?
Essentially, I was in a place of uncertainty when I contemplated this question. I had big ideas with little idea about how to execute them. Much like being in a kayak without a paddle, it was pretty useless. That autumn I began thinking through what I loved about my life (so many things) and also what I wanted to change (so many things) – loving your life and wanting to change it can, and often do, co-exist. Grad school seemed to be the best choice so I took the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) and applied to Oxford in Round 4. It was ironically the same feeling I felt at the age of 19…I didn’t think I’d make it, but I did.
As I have now embarked on my 30s, I see them unfolding in a similar way to my 20s. I am in school, and I am unsure of what the future holds. Perhaps every decade begins this way (minus the school), so my best advice is to think through what you’d like to accomplish, make a plan, and start chasing it.
I made so many excuses about why Oxford wouldn’t work for me. I thought people 'like me' didn’t attend Oxford, and I was wrong. I thought that, by starting to study for entrance exams later, I’d never make it, and I was wrong. I thought if I applied in a later round I’d never get in, and I was wrong. I thought people in their 30s didn’t attend grad school, and I was way wrong.
One of my favourite quotes is, 'you are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.' It is often erroneously attributed to famous Oxford graduate C S Lewis (Magdalen College), but it is uncertain who actually said it. Perhaps there’s a poetic meaning to that. The unknown isn’t essential, but rather, it’s what you see and put energy towards that matter.
Attending Oxford will undoubtedly be a highlight of my life, and I am glad that I started a new decade here. I can only guess how it will impact this upcoming chapter of my life. New beginnings are around us all of the time. All we have to do is chase them.
