Week in Review, Year in Review

So, I've been in New Jersey for a year now. Doesn't time just fly sometimes?

With that said, it's been a year of strange contradictions. As is necessary when moving to a new place, I've said a lot of goodbyes to people back home and many hellos to new faces. It can be rough sometimes; I've had higher highs than I've ever had, and most definitely been down into some low holes, but overall I have to say I've become a pretty happy person.

A lot of the time, I'm insecure about my abilities professionally, intellectually, and socially, but things around me seem to just keep confirming them to me. I shouldn't ignore this fact. Professionally, I'm charged with a great deal considering my short tenure at this position, so someone must have faith in me. Intellectually, I can't ignore all the things I don't know for long enough to realize what I do. And socially, I always feel like things are missing, like I'm not doing my best.

But lately, I've been feeling better on all fronts. I'm taking control of my job, really making myself visible and doing the best job I can to keep track of all of the work-related thought-threads running through my mind. I'm taking control of my learning, exploiting my desire to learn more by making myself keep track of the world around me and striving for the continuation of my learning. And socially, well, I've been too wrapped up in fantastic and thoughtful conversation to worry about that in the past week and a half.

Goals are good, though, and they're there for a reason. They can't be an obsession (at least not healthfully), but simply a point on the horizon that you're shooting for. My first goal is to bridle my impatience - in my eyes, one of my worst faults. Even now, I'm staring at the clock, waiting for the time to pass so that I can be, well, not here anymore. I'm always looking around the corner and anticipating rather than living in the moment. No more of that.

That said, though, I do need something to look forward to. Right now, that's the Monday trip to the zoo that I've lined up with Natalie. The bird sanctuary opened quite recently, and I'm excited to see the renovations. As Wikipedia describes:

On May 30, 2009, the Philadelphia Zoo opened the McNeil Avian center, the zoos renovation of its classic bird house. It features two species that are extinct in the wild: the Guam Rail and the Micronesian Kingfisher. A theatre presents a nine minute, 4D, movie about migration, following the migration of an animated oriel named Otis.

It probably won't top my old favorite parts of the Philadelphia zoo, namely Big Cat Falls and the Amur Leopard exhibit (the latter featuring the titular rarest cat in the world), but I'm sure it'll be up there in the rankings. Hopefully the weather holds up and all goes as planned schedule-wise!