margins w/ MR

i read something somewhere (superrr reliable and trustworthy, i know) that said while your individual taste buds regenerate every 10-14 days, your food preferences & hatreds change significantly slower due to how your brain matures over time.

i’ve never steered far from self-serve salads since starting college. i knew i could rely on them whenever other meal options looked questionable. i honestly didn’t think that my go-to salad could get any better. however, this past year it definitely up’d it’s game (probably due to the huge circular salad bar that took over the previous center station). the “new-and-improved” salad bar offered a much larger array of toppings.

one day, during my most recent semester at school, i was walking past the constant rotation of salad offerings and found my eyes lingering on the back left corner of the station. i had always heard people raving about the nutrients & health benefits of sweet potatoes, but i could never find a liking for them.

(my mom would make a holiday sweet potato casserole when i was growing up that my whole family LOVED, but the texture + taste genuinely made me feel like throwing up -> i would plug my nose when my mom told me i had to eat 6 more bites before i could be excused).

i told myself that if i buried them in the depths of my salad, disguised under feta & other flavorful components, i wouldn’t even notice them. then for the first time in MY LIFE, i reached for the sweet potatoes.

let me tell you, it was the best salad i’d ever had.

and yes, maybe the meat offering that day was sizzled chicken (my friends and i’s favorite), and maybe the leafy greens were greener than ever, but that dang sweet potato hit the spot.

i find this situation to be a metaphor for a lot of other adulting moments in my life. i go into things so confident that i’ll either like or dislike it, then sometimes it ends up surprising me and being the opposite. this is why i find it SO IMPORTANT to try new things as often as possible. whether it’s something you’ve been wanting to do, or something you’ve been avoiding.

as i’m going into my junior year of college, i find myself overwhelmed by the idea that i’m “behind” other students my age. especially because i didn’t secure a summer internship (& i only have a general idea of what i want to do with my life).

but what i DO have is interest.

i’ve always been fascinated with what my mom does for a living – crisis management, business consulting, and a hint of supply chain management (specifically her ability to travel for work). i took initiative in this interest by connecting with her boss and expressing my desire for any kind of shadowing / internship opportunity.

to my surprise, instead of addressing me like a boss, he addressed me as a mentor.

he offered me professional advice that will set me apart from other business students post-graduation, as well as the opportunity for a summer / fall-term project (presented as 3 different routes i could take).

i chose the route that aligns with my studies in school, and that will allow me to harness my inner “creativity,” which is something i hope to bring into my future careers.

through this project, i will be able to tackle something i am “confident i’ll like,” but maybe i’ll uncover that it is something that i don’t. and there’s nothing wrong with that.

i am NOT behind.

i LOVE sweet potatoes.

i do still struggle with mushrooms. but that makes sense, because i definitely have more adulting to do.

but you know, baby steps.