Ten Years Later

It's hard to believe, but I've been in London for seven weeks now! In and around all of the great trips, work experiences, classes, and explorations, I've been doing a lot of soul-searching while I'm here. It's not often that a person is given the chance to get away from all of his comfort zones and safety nets, left with only his mind and memory to remind him of who he is. It's left me to have the time to consider what really matters, what I want out of life, and who I want to ensure is going to come along for the ride.

Ok, I'll get to the point.

A friend and I were talking about how awesome this trip has been, and that if you would have told our younger selves the things we've been able to see and do, they'd never believe it. And it reminded me of an assignment I had in a writing class last semester, where I had to write a letter to my ten-year-old self. It was such a strange experience to think about the advice I would have given to the 5th grade Me. Yeah, it was a cheesy assignment, but I told younger Me that things wouldn't always be easy, but he had a lot to look forward to.

But if I had to write that letter now, just eight months later, it would not look the same at all. Trust me, I'm not saying that I've become some beacon of maturity. Not at all. If anything, I'm freaking out more because I only have a few months left of school before I'm out there in the real world. But being in England has forced me to figure out how to live on my own. I've had to find my way around the city, make new friends, and do it all without my usual crutches. It's just been me. And in these past seven weeks, I think I've started to understand what Pride really means, and it's more than being able to walk around the streets in your underwear. As fun as that may be.

It's about being proud of who you are. As a gay individual. But also as a human individual.

And there's so much more to it than that. I'm finally building the life and career that I've always wanted. I'm interning at an international film marketing company, and working on a big branding project for Disney right now. If you know anything about me, you know that that's a HUGE deal.

Sorry, I'm just really excited.

Since middle school, I've spent countless hours and sleepless nights browsing through the online wonder that is Wikipedia, trying to learn as much as I could about the companies in the entertainment industry, how they operate, and what their brands are. Yeah, people thought it was weird, but it was my hobby and something I loved. But even though I knew that's what I wanted to do when I grew up, I never thought it would actually be possible.

Then I went to Oktoberfest two weekends ago. On the flight there, as I sat in my window seat, dressed in my tight-fitted T and a scarf, and reading my JLo cover issue of Cosmo, I realized that this is what my life is going to look like. I can be who I want to be, do the work that I want to do, and see as much of the world as possible in the process.

And I'll probably always take an endless amount of selfies, everywhere I go.
Even in the airport bathroom.

Every day, I'm doing things I never imagined I'd actually get to do. Ten years ago, 5th grade Me couldn't stop asking what right I had to want this life. But ten years later, I'm saying that this Small Town Celebrity is just getting started.