Wow I cannot believe it’s been my last summer as a teenager. (Gahh! I feel so old typing that!) I only have few soccer filled days of summer left, but I promise to live it up before its over. Granted I’ve had an amazing childhood living around the world, traveling, experiencing new things and of course playing sports, but there are some things that I’ve yet to accomplish. I always hear people saying, “I wish I could have done this or that but I didn’t”. Well the time has come to just do it (thank you Nike for that beautiful motto).

 Heres’ my list of 20 things I’ve yet to do that I want to finish before my birthday in February! Let me know if you want to join in on any or all of the challenges!

1. Run a Half Marathon – I think for as much as I’ve run over the years in soccer, I think it’s finally time to prove it with a medal or two. On the last day of winter break, there is the Carlsbad Half which I’d love to train for. Come on, how hard could it really be?
2. Learn to Cook (Well) – Food is sort of a basic requirement of living and if it weren’t for some of my teammates and my parents I don’t think I’d still be living today (probably from food poisoning or from just lack of food!) Anyways, I’d love to learn how to cook a gourmet meal (maybe not gourmet but you get the idea) and have some friends over! Completed Fall 2012
   

   Chef Meg

3. Go on a juice cleanse for a week – I just watched a really cool documentary called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead which opened my eyes to the types of foods I put into my body. I’d love to try this and although I could not do a full juice cleanse because I wouldn’t be getting the proper amount of calories and proteins through juicing, I think one week is manageable and would test my will power.
4. Go to a college football game – Seeing as I’m working for the Heisman Memorial Trophy Trust which recognizes the best college football player each year and NYU doesn’t have a football team I think it’d be fitting to go to another college football game. Who’s down for the Yale Colombia game on 10/27?
   

   I think I Could Handle the Pigskin

5. Donate Blood – In between getting over my fear of needles and helping others in need, I think this would be a great thing to do before I’m twenty. (Plus you get a pretty cool sticker for doing it!)
6. Go to a Broadway Show – Seeing as I’ve lived in NYC a year and have visited a half dozen other times I don’t know why I still haven’t seen a broadway show. Any suggestions?  Completed Dec. 12, 2012
   

   Wicked Anybody?

7. Watch Every Episode of Friends – This is one of those classic TV shows that people are still talking about ten years down the road. Seeing as I live in Manhattan, have a friend named Phebe and have Rachel’s spending habits, I think this would be one show worth watching from the pilot episode to the series finale. Central Perk anybody?
8. Go to All Five Boroughs in One Day – Sure I can name all of ’em but I haven’t even been to all of them, let alone more than two in the same day, but I’d love to say that I’ve done this. Here’s my plan of attack!
   

   Manhattan? Check!

9. Go To Mexico – My favorite foods includes chips and salsa, I lives less than 30 miles from the border and speak Spanish. Have I been to the border? NOPE! I know it’s dangerous but I literally just want to cross over and just say I’ve been there (and maybe have a burrito too!) Oh and watch this cool video about the border and sports!
   

   Just wanna go to the other side of the fence

10. Start a Revolution – My roommate Cami showed me a video from TED we watched in preseason last year about starting a revolution and seeing as I live in a city full of people, I don’t think it’s going to be terribly difficult to start one. The only problem may be thinking of something – any ideas?
11. Submit a piece or photograph to a major publication and get it published – New York City is the home to hundreds, if not thousands, of budding young artists and journalists trying to make it big. I think it’d be an incredible accomplishment to get published or recognized for any piece of work I do now. Maybe a possible career in the making? Who knows?
12. Start a Tradition – I’m really great at starting things but am not so great at following through on them so I think by starting a tradition it could help me on my follow-through. I think making Foodie Friday a tradition would be great! In order for this to count we must do this a minimum of  10 times 🙂  Completed Fall 2012
    

    Foodie Friday Day #1

13. Break a Record – I know this goal sounds pretty conceited but I think that etching my name into some sort of record book would be pretty awesome to do by the time I’m twenty. I know I am ranked third or fourth in some records in this but it’d be great to be number one! Completed October 28, 2012
14.  Withhold Myself From Shopping (But For Only One Month) – I’m a shopaholic and proud but my bank account would probably say otherwise. I think it’d be a reasonable goal for me to not do any clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. shopping for one whole month. My roommate in PDA currently thinks I won’t be able to do it and she’s only known me for a week… Yikes! Completed October 15, 2012
    

    Confessions of a Shopaholic?

15. Try Bananas, Mushrooms, or Yogurt (Or all three) – I’m typically not one of those people that is pegged as “picky” but when it comes to these three foods, I am pretty stringent. For some reason these are the three foods I refuse to consume until now. Maybe I’ll find out that I like bananas or yogurt by the Spring but I don’t know yet; only time will tell. Completed September 26, 2012
16. Fly – Although It’d be pretty awesome to just flap my wings and fly away, I think a more comparable goal would be to learn how to fly a plane.  I come from a large family of aviators – my Dad was a pilot, my grandfather was a pilot, my grandmother was an airline stewardess and my other grandfather jumped out of planes. I think it’s an important part of who I am in a larger sense of my family. (Plus how many people can say they can fly?) – Completed December 23, 2012
17. Visit Ellis Island and Look For Any Relatives – I recently found out that my maternal great-great grandfather, Patrick Tannian, passed through Ellis Island and I think it’d be a pretty unique experience to try and find their names among the thousands that passed through those gates. After searching through some old documents and Ancestry.com, I think I can make this work.
18. Watch a live surgery – I’ve always had some sort of obsession and quirky passion for the human body and at one point in my life I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. I think it’d be cool to scrub in and see what it actually is like to be a doctor. Any bets on how fast I’ll pass out?
19. Get Scuba Qualified – One of my good friends Kaitlyn is PADI qual’d and I always have wanted to explore the sea. The World is 70% water,  I can swim, the only thing missing is breathing underwater – let’s do this.
    

    Doesn’t This Look So Cool?

20. Make an Impact – I feel that this one is pretty vague yet self-explanatory. In all that I do, I just want to have a positive impact on those around me and I think I can accomplish this one if I keep trying to be a selfless individual.

The clock is ticking!