The first year of my 30s is officially over. It feels really strange to type that, because I don’t think that I necessarily feel like I’m in my 30s. It’s not that I’m super young-at-heart – I’m more of an old soul than anything else – but I remember 30 seeming SO grown-up when I was younger.

I still feel in so many ways that I’m still learning and growing and figuring out where I want my life to go. I feel very confident about myself as a person, and who I am, but where I’m going? That’s still a bit blurrier. One of my friends has three questions she asks people each year at their birthday: What was one thing from the past year you hope to never do again, what was your favorite thing from the past year, and what’s one thing you definitely want to do in the next year?

I came up with answers for the first two, but the third one really stumped me. I realized that I don’t really have anything concrete in mind for the next year. I think the past year has been so big for me that I’ve been so focused on short-term planning – this weekend, next week, next month – that I haven’t really had a lot of time or energy to focus on the longer term.

My year as Ms. Wheelchair USA was incredible in many ways – it helped me to make so many connections, which brought me to some really exciting opportunities. But knowing this was a year-long reign, my attention was highly focused on that year and that timeframe. Now, I have a little bit of luxury to look farther ahead. Where do I really want to go with all of the work that I’ve been doing? Where do I want it to take me?

So while I didn’t come up with an answer when she asked me during dinner, I think I have an answer for my friend now. In the next year, I want to figure out what exactly it is I want to be doing after this year is over… or at least have a better idea. I’m excited to do some long-term, big-picture planning.