if they can do it, we can do it, or it can't be done at all

We stopped by Chicago on our way home from New York to visit my sister at Kellogg, where she's currently going to business school. My friend and I met a lot of her friends and classmates who were all really friendly and outgoing, way too much for the two of us who are usually pretty tame people. A simple "hi" and wave to them is an excited "hi, hug, and 'oh my gosh! you're here!,'" as if they all already knew me and were all expecting to see me.

We tagged along to a few of my sister's events and felt like two high school girls sitting in the corner while all the college students socialize and talk about their classes and professors, when in actuality, we've already graduated from college and so have they. We were kind of quiet and had few words - we felt like we had nothing in common with any of them. My sister said "It's what you make of it," but that's easy to say when you've been a social, smart, outgoing person for your entire life and can easily associate with people in any situation. I'm not saying that my friend and I are not social, smart, or outgoing - we're just the kind of people who you just have to get to know first to see that we are. We can't just be like that with random people we've never met - it's harder than it seems, especially when just talking with a few people there made us feel so unaccomplished, like we lacked something and haven't yet experienced life the way we were supposed to. Everyone there had great jobs before they decided to go to business school and have travelled to places I could only wish I've gone to. We couldn't really relate since we both don't really love our jobs and haven't really gotten the chance to travel to places around the world.

But truthfully, that whole experience enlightened us. It made us contemplate about how we can change our lives - how we can do things that they have done. I had a lot of time to think on my plane ride home and I've come up with some goals:

1.) Take a class to put together the portfolio I've been wanting to put together for years, even though it'll cost me an arm and a leg.

2.) Volunteer for something on the weekends to help out with an important cause and at the same time meet new people.

3.) Learn how to start my own business (this is a really long term goal), but I can't really disclose what I'm planning to do since I don't want to give any of my ideas away.

4.) Travel whenever the opportunity presents itself.

I feel like now that I've actually written it out, I have to follow through with all of them because if I didn't, I'd feel like one of those high school girls sitting in the corner again, like I haven't experienced life the way I wanted to...and I hate that feeling.