As anybody can tell you, what an absolutely insane decade this has been! I feel like everything that could possibly have happened did happen except for everybody growing wings and a literal alien abduction (Raiding area 51 came close though I guess). As culturally significant as this decade was, I’ve decided to write about 10 important moments that happened to/for/involving me, one moment for each year of the decade, none of which impacted society at large the way meme culture and the 2016 presidential election did. So here we go.
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2010: Passed my camp’s swim test for the first time. I did not learn to swim until I was nine, which is embarrassing enough, but even though I learned then, I still failed the swim test at my summer camp that year because I was too afraid of five foot water. I finally figured out how to tread and I passed it that year, which was a giant personal accomplishment for me. I remember how unbelievably proud I was of myself when I climbed out of the pool, and it taught me that I could get anything done as long as I worked at it.
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2011: Played Annie in StarznLightz’s production of Annie Jr. I’d been involved with theatre since I was five, but I auditioned for my first ever Actual Show With An Actual Theatre Company that year and somehow landed the role of Annie in their production of Annie Jr. I’ve been in many shows since then, but that show remains one of the most fun I’ve ever been part of. Weird flex but I was also apparently so good that moms around my town still remember me playing Annie.
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2012: Got cyberbullied on Christmas. I’d been texting the guy I liked too much and he, to get me to shut up, texted me some anti-Semetic stuff and left some disturbing voicemails. He later denied it was him and said it was his friend. We both erred there: I really shouldn’t have texted him 49 times a day, but he really shouldn’t have handled it the way he did. It was one of the first times I realized how I had been (at least partially) in the wrong in a situation, and then I improved my actions as a result. Character growth!
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2013: Got asked out for the first time. His name was ****Victor**** (name changed) and he asked me to the eighth grade semi-formal. I said no and then we avoided each other the whole dance. It was as angsty as eighth grade gets.
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2014: Had the best summer of my life. I went to two summer camps that year, the first being the one where the swim test was, and the second the arts camp that I continue to hold near and dear to my heart. At both camps I felt included in ways I’d never experienced before, and I basked (for lack of a better word) in my new friendships. At the arts camp, I played Little Becky Two Shoes in the camp’s production of “Urinetown” and a bunch of fun roles in the camp’s production of “The Dining Room”, both of which I remember incredibly fondly. Everyone raves about summer of 2016 being everybody’s peak, but my peak summer so far has been 2014’s for sure.
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2015: Listened to “Age of Consent” by New Order for the first time. This remains my favorite song of all time four years later.
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2016: Went to Quebec. I was there for a one-week “French immersion” camp, but it was my first time out of the country by myself. The amount of illegal activity that went down there was appalling (I partook in none of it! Promise!), but I made some amazing friends, including one whom I stood up for on the last day of camp,
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2017: Got into college! I did not end up going to that particular college. I keep trying to encourage my younger sister to apply there though.
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2018: Graduated from high school!! That’s a big deal for anybody. It’s a milestone! A rite of passage! Proof that you’re planning on getting the f*ck out of your ugly hometown! Yayyy!!
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2019: Went to the Chateau de Gudanes for five days. This year has been a giant mess for me, but one of the best moments was the five days I spent with my family at a French Chateau near the Andorra border. The Chateau was MIND-BOGGLINGLY BEAUTIFUL. The all caps are necessary. It’s owned by family friends of ours. It was initially built in the 1200s and then rebuilt in the 1700s, and there are 57 rooms you can explore (there used to be 98!). There was always bread to snack on too. I miss it every day.
There were many more moments than those that had large significance for me throughout this decade, but those were the first 10 that came to mind, so I suppose those mean the most to me. I hope your 2010s were good, or if not good then at least an opportunity to grow. Onward with a new decade(!? Crazy!?!?!?!?) where we’ll all be twenty-somethings stranded in cities and going on 852954713876 Tinder dates before we find our soulmates at age 25 like everybody on TV.