I spent the past weekend in DC, celebrating my 30th birthday with my friends and family. I’ll share more about the trip itself in other posts, but I wanted to use this post to reflect on turning 30.

Everyone always asks you how you feel on your birthday – if you feel older, different. And to be honest, I never do. I love my birthday, and I love celebrating, but to me, being 30 doesn’t feel much different than 29 or 28 or 27 did.

But if I just think about turning 30, as a whole, it feels like such a real, adult number. It feels like an age at which I should have everything figured out – be settled in my career, have my own place, really know where I’m going in my life. But currently… none of that is true. I still am very much figuring things out! I’m still a student, which I certainly never thought I’d be at 30, and still figuring out how exactly I want to move forward.

Everything I’ve done over the last year – my Health Activist Fellowship, my advocacy work, my Ms. Wheelchair USA win – has been incredibly exciting. But for as many opportunities as those things have introduced into my life (which I’m incredibly excited for!), they’ve also introduced just as many questions and uncertainty. Even just a year ago, when I turned 29, I would never have predicted that my life at 30 would look like it does now.

So I’m hoping that 30 is my year of opportunity and growth. That doesn’t mean that I need to have everything figured out at 31, but I want to make sure that I don’t pass up any chances that come my way. It’s not about having things figured out, and checking off accomplishments on a list, but about making the most of what I’m offered.

And of course… I can’t end this post without the biggest thank you to my friends and family who came to DC to celebrate with me! They have been so supportive of and excited for me this past year, and there was nothing I wanted more than to be able to spend my birthday in their company. I’ve always prioritized strong friendships, but as I get older, it gets clearer and clearer to me how important it is to have friends and family who encourage and support you.My friends and family are my support system, my sounding board, my cheerleaders, and so much more – I am grateful to have them in my life, and my birthday wouldn’t be the same without them.