I came to our fair city a fresh faced, college graduate who knew only one thing about her move down here: I definitely did not want to work in politics. Thinking back I only vaguely recall who that girl was or what she was thinking, or even what made her happy. Despite twenty odd years under my belt, I was new to the world, and pretty much had zero life experiences to learn and grow from.
It’s said that childhood and adolescence are the most formidable years of your life.
And while it’s fruitless to argue that those years aren’t important, for me my most formidable years, my 20s and early 30s, happened right here in DC. More profoundly put, I truly grew up in this city.
The last 9 years here have had their ups and downs, their failures, their simple pleasures, their soul crushing, heart breaking events, their depressive episodes when I literally had to scrap myself off the floor, their serendipitous meetings, their triumphant fist in the air celebrations and a whole hell of lot of in-betweens.
At the center of it all is DC; its people, its culture, its evolution, its bars, its opportunities, its music, its heartbeat are all at the crux of this personal growth and discovery. Here I’ve found what I value and love about the people in my life. Here I learned what I’m not good at and need to work on. I’ve not been perfect. Like DC, I’ve dated the wrong people, worn some outfits I definitely regret, and had my fair share of thankfully not-too-destructive decisions.
But out of it all, I’ve formed a grounded, work-in-progress model on how I want to live my life. And it’s in DC that I’ve been challenged, tested and pushed to become who I am and will continue to develop into being. Could another city have played such a significant role in my life? Yes. But it didn’t, and never will, so I’ll celebrate my successes, gain insights from my mistakes and grow from it all.
It’s wonderful that DC is where it is now and that people are moving here. I’m psyched to see our neighborhoods evolve and our city develop. For me, this city has inspired hope, faith and perseverance, even in my darkest hours, and it is my deepest hope that it can and will be the same for others.