22 Things I Learned as a 22-Year-Old

This week I turn 23, so I decided to take some time to trace the last year and come up with a list of various things I learned (or discovered, or experienced for the first time) while I was 22. I’ll admit, I stole this idea from another blogger (from whom I’ve been reading for…eight or nine years? Wow, now I really feel old). But I thought it was a great idea, so why not nab it?

So, without further ado, here are some highlights of things I learned as a 22-year-old:

1. Filing one’s taxes isn’t (quite) as scary as it sounds.

2. Actually a lot of adult responsibilities aren’t as bad as I expect them to be. Like applying for a Concealed Carry License, or talking on the phone, or replacing batteries in soap dispensers…

3. How to navigate Oxford on a bicycle.

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4. I can write a 17,000-word play in two weeks.

5. I should plan better so that I NEVER have to write a 17,000-word play in two weeks EVER again.

6. How to make bread!

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7. The fabulous power of WordPress plugins (seriously, there’s a plugin for just about everything and they save SO MUCH TIME).

8. How to recognize the Chinese character for “tea” (I’m bilingual, guys!!).

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9. Also, bubble tea. It’s pretty cool.

10. I can actually speak in front of a class of college students (i.e. without fainting).

11. How Pinterest works (more or less).

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12. Blush pink shoes match literally everything.

13. How to pipe frosting flowers (only two kinds, but hey, it’s something).

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14. How to play Triominoes (which I didn’t know existed).

15. If you give the Kittywham kitty a bandana and patriotic colors, she’s actually Rosie the Riveter. (Also I learned that Photoshop is a serious procrastination tool…)

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IMG_395416. How to use WooCommerce and MailChimp.

17. ALWAYS take Dramamine before a long flight. Bad things happen if you don’t.

18. How to make a snow-horse! (Well, I did very little of the work, but I watched in admiration!)

19. Andrew Peterson. I listened to all his music and read his books for the first time this year, and he’s truly an outstanding artist.

20. How to survive conventions as an exhibitor!

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21. A lot of things about collapsed lungs. (Such as, DON’T get on a plane with a collapsed lung; DO see a doctor if you have chest/back pain and a racing pulse and shortness of breath; and DO thank God every day for a healthy body!)

22. And, speaking of being thankful, all in all I’m coming away from 22 with refreshed gratitude for the life I’m living with family and friends I love, and work that animates me, and a very present God who loves me with steadfast patience and abundant joy.

It’s been a good year, and an even better lies ahead.

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