Narrative Essay on Things To Do Before 30s

The age of thirty is quickly approaching me. In my eyes, thirty marks the true end of youth. Second by second, hour by hour, and day by day, senior citizenship nears. Okay, maybe it’s not actually coming up that fast. Thirteen years is a long time. Even on my thirtieth birthday, I will not start using bifocals, join a bingo league, or swap out my car for a wheelchair. In the grand scheme of life, thirty is still young, but it marks the end of my childhood, teenage years, and twenties. There are many things I want to do before I blow out thirty birthday candles. So, to keep myself on track, I’ve created a short list of what I want to do most:

Fish the warm waters of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Fishing is one of my favorite summer activities. My dad and I have fished throughout New Jersey, Maryland, and Hawaii-- where we saw a thirty-foot whale shark, an experience that our Hawaii native captain of fifteen years had only had twice before. Fishing is about so much more than just reeling in big fish. It’s about the remoteness of the ocean, the bright blue sky, the camaraderie on the boat, and of course, the incredible marine life. During the winter months, when it’s too cold to fish, I resort to watching fishing channels on YouTube. Some of my favorite videos have been filmed in Cabo San Lucas, where the water is warm, the scenery is stunning, and the fish are biting. One of the things I love most about fishing is wondering what fish I am pulling up. In Cabo, that uncertainty is even more extreme due to the many species of fish that call those waters their home. It is my ideal fishing location. 

Earn a Global Seal of Biliteracy (Spanish and English)

Spanish is my intended major in college and a huge passion of mine. Through learning

Spanish, I was able to discover my true identity, previously unknown due to the lifetime absence of my mother, who is the reason I am half-Latina. To me, a large part of being Latina is knowing my ethnic language. In only five years of studying Spanish, I have achieved advanced proficiency in Spanish, earning the Foreign Language Award for Spanish at my middle school, being one of five students that scored high enough on the Spanish placement test to take Spanish III as a freshman, and being inducted into the Spanish National Honor Society as a sophomore (the earliest one can be inducted). Earning this seal would be symbolic of all the hard work I put into finding my identity and I will not rest until I am officially declared biliterate in Spanish and English. 

Teach myself to play five more instruments

Learning new instruments provides me with a feeling like no other. 

Think of the feeling you get from solving a difficult math problem and the adrenaline rush you get from cliff jumping. Those two sensations combined into one is how I felt when I played my first note on clarinet, first chord on ukulele & guitar, first used both hands simultaneously on piano, and properly played the rhythm on timpani for the first time. I took up the clarinet in fourth grade because I wanted to join my school’s band and try something new. I looked forward to each lesson with my teacher as there was always something new to learn. After being moved up into the advanced lesson groups and being selected for solos, I decided that I wanted to experience the excitement of learning a new instrument all over again. I would go on to teach myself to play piano, getting that indescribable feeling once more just as I had hoped. After I mastered that, it was time to move on to a new instrument, it became a cycle. I repeated that process with my next three instruments: ukulele, guitar, and timpani. Learning new instruments brings me so much joy and I want to continue doing so over the next thirteen years. In eight years, I was able to master five instruments, so in thirteen I am confident that I can master another five, even though my life with inevitably get busier. 

Go to a Latin American country to research the effects of Latin culture on health

Going into college, I am most interested in interdisciplinary studies of Spanish and

Biology. My idea for combining these two passions of mine is to study the effects of Latin culture on overall health, to see if there is an association between the two. This is the reason a college like Harvard is the perfect fit for me. There are very few schools that allow students to do research abroad, but at Harvard, this is easily doable. My research plan would be to go to rich, poor, and middle-class cities in a Latin American country and then interview natives of that town. I will study their diets, looking into if their income affects the nutritional value of their foods. Then, I will look into the health conditions that they have. With all of this data, I will be able to draw conclusions and publish any findings that could help the Latinos in need. Whether it be related to income or just to Latin culture, knowing what is causing, for example, Latinos to be obese, would be key in solving these kinds of problems. I feel that Harvard would provide me with the opportunity to conduct this research and give back to my community. 

Try stand-up comedy

The cafeteria, locker room, or my best friend’s birthday party-- you name it, I’ve 

made it into a stage for stand-up comedy. It is all improv and there are no planned jokes or points that I have to hit. My friends, teachers, and family have all told me that I should try the real thing, and it’s something that I have always wanted to do. Whether it be one time, a few times, or something I do long-term as a hobby, I know that stand-up comedy is a world that I want to explore. I am not looking to have a career as a stand-up comedian or even make money from it, all I want is to bring others joy through laughter because I believe that we should all smile a little more. 

Start an organization through which senior communities in need can be matched with volunteers

Volunteering at a senior living community has been one of the most rewarding and fun 

experiences of my life and it has deeply saddened me to see the desperation of these communities for volunteers. Elderly people often feel lonely because they have outlived or lost touch with most of their peers, but volunteers make such a difference when it comes to battling this. A quick game of checkers can lead to a conversation and then a friendship. These relationships mean everything to senior citizens. I plan to network using the connections that I make in college to spread the word about this volunteer shortage. Depending on who I have on my team helping me, I can start an organization to solve this problem in the form of a website or social media page. Through this, I will create a legacy that can withstand the test of time. 

Travel and embrace spontaneity

In my opinion, spontaneity is the essence of adventure. Being open to new experiences that may seem scary at first is a great way to learn about yourself. From booking a helicopter ride over New York City one day before the flight, I learned that fear is only what you allow it to be. Had I booked this adventure a week prior, I would have lived in fear over those next seven days, watching “Helicopter Rides Gone Wrong” videos on YouTube and googling statistics of helicopter fatalities. I know this because the morning of the flight, I did exactly that, but I had much less time. I had to just take a deep breath and say, “Whatever, this will be fun.” It turned about being one of the most amazing, surreal adventures of my life. I want to embrace this lifestyle when I travel going into my thirtieth birthday. No matter what the adventure or where I am sure that spontaneity will bring me to the coolest places and experiences. 

Become a board-certified physician

I weirdly loved going to the doctor as a kid. I was curious as to what all the instruments did and watched my pediatrician, Dr. Shah’s, every move in awe. At five, I was late to school one day due to a doctor’s appointment so they filled me in on what I had missed. The class was going around the room and sharing what they wanted to be when they grew up. I had just had a fun doctor’s appointment, so I said that I wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to be as cool as Dr. Shah. That childhood dream of mine has stuck with me ever since. I’ve realized that medicine is the career that I want to pursue because everything in my life has led up to it. I yearn to give back to the community that made me who I am today. Doctors inspire others in a multitude of ways. They help people live healthy, fulfilling lives and are often are the sole reason that someone is still living. I have learned bedside manners at the retirement home, practiced my surgical skills on filets of fish, developed my fun-loving spirit through my hobbies, and have studied Spanish so that I can promote inclusivity in the hospital. These qualities will make me an amazing doctor regardless of the specialty that I go into. I want to be a successful doctor because I know that through this, I will make a difference and save lives. 

The next thirteen years will be the best of my life in all aspects. I plan on making the most of my youth while undergoing personal growth. Once I accomplish everything on this list, I will be able to confidently say that I made the most of my youth but I do not plan on stopping there. I will make a new list for each decade of my life so that every single decade will mean something to me. This list is perhaps the most important of all the future ones as it tests how much I can accomplish in my youth. Regardless, I will never stop pushing myself to try new things and become the best version of myself that I can be. The gloom of thirty will only encourage me to not let a moment of my youth go to waste.