Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Half my life

So back in high school I had a fabulous Creative Writing classes – one of my favorite classes by far. One of our assignments was to create an Inspiration Book at the end of the year with some of our major pieces we had written. The book itself was hand-made – making the covers out of wallpaper, sewing the pages together, cutting out each page to glue in the book.

The final chapter of this book was the best of all: we were to write a letter to ourselves that would be sealed until we turned 30. I turned 30 last September (yes, I know, I didn't announce it). A couple months later after I found the book again (amazing, considering the lack of organization in my room) I sat down and broke the seal (created by stickers of toucans and lady bugs) of the green envelope. I had to laugh out loud with one of the first sentences: "I hope you are now some kind of doctor and are very successful".

So I haven't known my whole life that I wanted to be a photographer. My first photo class was senior year of high school, though my doctor phase lasted through freshman year of college (started school as a biology major). Funny how life takes different tolls. I wouldn't have seen myself as a photographer back then, but it definitely fits now.

I also thought I would be married and have kids (preferable twins, as my 15-year-old self wanted) by now.

Another great entry in the book was our Wish List. What did 15-year-old Emily wish for? Some of the highlights that had come true:
I was a good photographer (I loved that I wrote this!!!)
I made more money (not too hard, considering babysitting was my only job at that point)
My family had a kayak (though I still haven't used it)
I had more cousins my age that lived near me (even better - I leave near my 2 and 6 year old cousins and I get to watch them grow up)
I could go to Hawaii (going this fall)
I knew my relatives in Norway (went there after college)
I could travel to a foreign country (Norway and Iceland so far)

So there's a tiny glimpse in my teenage life. And now you all know how old I am :)

book

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book

5 comments:

Jay Crihfield said...

You're going to Hawaii this fall, so lucky! The hardest part will be coming back, belive me.

erin kate said...

that is such a great idea! ...and what a nice treasure to look back at.

p.s. you've also been to Mexico!

janet l moran said...

how cool! I also did this when I was in high school. My letter was way to embarrassing to ever share publicly.

Emily DeWan Photography said...

Oops, forgot about Mexico. Canada too!
Believe me, there were parts of the letter that haven't been read to anybody! You'll notice I did a very tight edit of the book :)

Angela said...

I SO enjoyed going through your book with you a few weekends ago- what fun! I wish my 15-year old self had done the same thing.