things I would tell my 16-year-old self (from 26-year-old me)

A few days ago, the 2022 Canada Olympic Snowboard Team was announced. When I saw it today, I thought to myself, 'wow, that's a life that I‘d want to live.' I'd love to experience the pursuit of high performance sports as my full-time gig. Perhaps it's the millennial in me but I merely cannot fathom how many ‘lives’ I can live in my short time on this earth. I was a student for most of my life, a very solid upbringing and now I'm on life #2: full-time corporate strategist. I'm making that sound a little more boring because the key part here is that it's still a steady, stable 9-5 with benefits.



I swear, I love my job. I definitely lucked out in finding and landing this one. Oftentimes, interns ask me during our first coffee chat, “so how did you find out about Gemic?" and all I can come back with is “it was probably a Google search." You can laud me on my Google skills (which perhaps is why I have my job) but also think about the impeccable timing and follow through in the process that got me here. The point I wanted to make is that this is also an inspiring job to me. It's a job I had no idea existed, one that allows me the freedom of thinking and creativity and dreaming on the daily. It is a place that someone who is a relatively new, senior hire said to me, "this is a great place to work."

So this whole spiel, disguised as a story but with intentions as a caveat, is leading me to think about how I want to spend the rest of my 20s. Huzzah! I turned 26 and we are overall thriving - financially, socially, personally stable with plans for the year. But as a self-identified and honestly, proven planner, I felt a little stumped when someone asked me about year 3 of my 3-year plan. It's merely “move back to Canada, either Vancouver or Toronto." Part of that is lazy but that also has me thinking - what could I be doing?



Going back to the Snowboard Team news, I was curious - how old are these athletes? When did they turn pro? Where is their home hill (Ontario) or mountain (BC and else)? Was this a destined choice from clear talent or something they decided when they were much older? What if I don't want to do big jumps and park? What other events are there?



I first found PGS - which if you enter into YouTube yields no snowboard-results without appending the word ‘snowboard.' Once you do that, you realize, 'oh! it‘s a 1v1 slalom race down the mountain!' PGS is short for Parallel Giant Slalom. Gotcha.



The other event I was reminded of was SBX. Snowboard cross. A race! With those mini jumps you love! A proper challenge if you ask me!





I started dreaming about what it would be like if I took the steps to do be an athlete in snowboard cross. I'd have to train, learn the sport, learn the rules, then eventually, compete in my first race! The thing is about these things is that people often start when they're young. So it's relatively easier to find training programs for kids in this sport rather than amateur adults.



But I've never thought about becoming a professional athlete before. The mere thought has never crossed my mind as a possibility because I was focused on my current path, which has now prompted an interesting thought. And with that, I started thinking about the choices I made at those critical points in the past 10 years, and what I knew then.



So whether I actually pursue these snowboard dreams or if they're a train that doesn't ever return, here are things I would tell my 16-year-old self.



One more thing. At 16, I was in the middle of grade 10. I had either just selected my IB courses for the rest of high school or was about to hand them in. I chose English, French, physics, chemistry, economics, and math. Some were choices, some were not, but that's what I ended up with. Classic choices for someone who has been ‘good’ at math and science their whole life (I was definitely not extraordinary. You know when gifted people talk about their gifted problems? I wasn't gifted.) Let's assume this choice in high school is meant to be - I wasn't ever going to know better before this point because well, you slowly develop consciousness and the ability to act about your identity and I took my time.

Dear 16-year-old me,



1. Life is not a race. You have internalized that for those exec positions on all your school clubs and the scholarships and the international competitions but you forget that when it comes to monetary pursuit. Turns out, your frugality takes you far enough and your desire to work throughout your degree does sustain you. But the average salary in Canada is like $70,000 a year. You don't know what that looks like yet but you'll get there, and it won't be as treacherous as your degree was. At this point, you earn enough for you to live comfortably. You'll think that this point is farther than it actually is, and I think it's okay if we reached it a little later. The point is, don't chase the monetary race.

2. There are so many things you can study. For some reason, everyone -1 from high school pursued medicine, engineering, or business. You subconsciously picked engineering one day and decided, 'yes! this is what I want to study for 4+ years!'. When you're 17, actually explore those university websites and programs. Read and do the calibre of research that you do literally for everything else. I think you may have landed on cognitive sciences or at least, something with a little more flexibility and writing. But don't worry, engineering treated you well. I just don't think it is broad and exploratory enough for you.

3. Find your way to Europe faster. If you studied something else, then you may have graduated faster, then you may have found your way to Europe faster and appreciate the cheap admission fees to most cultural landmarks and places if you're under 25 years old. I'm too old now, but you're not. Partly, Europe is cheaper at that time anyway because of your lower standards but that adventurousness is what keeps you going - and don't worry, it's still here. For this timeline, the plan is to be there next year for a whole year! You'd be proud of me too. (Don't ask me why I'm not there already. All I can tell you is that we experienced some global delays.)

4. Keep your friends close, but don't forget to hug your family. They're always there for you. Your dad picks you up from the airport after every long or short and ridiculous trip. Your mom always makes you food after you get off a typically late-at-night flight because you're all about maximizing. Don't forget to appreciate them even when they‘re omnipresent. And one more thought about relationships, trust your best friends’ advice.

5. Your idea of ‘settling’ is in for a ride. You have no idea if you'll be in Toronto ‘in the long term.' Nor do you know if you'll stay wherever you go to university. You have no idea what new places you'll establish as home. You have no idea what relationships you'll find and how long they'll stay. Think of the next 10 years as a time for your adventure spirit - and I can't wait to see where you go.



Cheers, and love always, - 26-year-old Serena Friday, January 21, 2022 at 11:04pm in Brampton