2025: What I Learned and What I Left
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it.” — Seneca When I look back at 2025, I don’t see a dramatic transformation. I see a year that responded to effort with precision. It gave me exactly what I earned, nothing more, nothing less. What changed wasn’t luck or circumstance. It was my standard. 2025 stripped away a few illusions for me. The illusion that potential is enough. The illusion that time waits. Somewhere between intention and execution, I learned that nothing shifts unless you do. I became more intentional with my time, energy, and attention. Precision replaced noise. For a long time, I carried the quiet belief that certain roles weren’t meant for me. Becoming the Chief Editor this year challenged that. I hadn’t been able to do it in school, and for a while, that stayed with me as proof of limitation. This time, I didn’t ask permission from my past. I stepped into the role anyway. Soon after, I led two competitions at my school’s natio...