FISTFULAYEN

20? 20?! 18 was an “adult” but still a teenager. But damn, kid, now you’re not even a teenager anymore. You’re heading straight into grown-up category. It’s kinda heartbreaking but joyous at the same time.

On this whole “I’m an adult now” thing, don’t rush, ya hear? Yes you’re a certified lab rat who does research I have to concentrate very hard to even have a cursory understanding of. Yes you are general manager of an FM radio station. Yes you live on your own 300 nights a year. No, you’re not a kid. But you’re not a grown up, either.

Regardless of the rad MIT brilliance of the above summer project you are still YOUNG. Enjoy every minute of it. You’re only half-way through college and even if it doesn’t seem like it now trust me you’ll look back and see this part of life for the utopia it is. Make the most of every second of your last two years. Concentrate on learning not grades and soak up all of the different PEOPLE around you. Make the most of even the most insufferable of your peers, learn all you can about human kind, figure out what makes them tick. Most importantly, enjoy the few keepers you find and think about all YOU have to offer THEM. You will draw upon these peers for the rest of your life and together you will inherit this planet, believe it or not. Plot and dream big about the world you will create together. Scheme not on how much money it’s going to make you (leave that to the folks up the street) but on how you can make life better for more people on earth. Enrich yourselves then share, plz.

But be sure to enjoy today while you’re doing it. See live music. Spend time outdoors. Pet the animals, smell the roses, look before you flush, etc. Live.

Most of all, thanks for being my co-conspirator for the past 20 years. Good news (for me, I hope for you, too): we’re not even half-way done. Let’s blow this shit up. Thanks for being you. You. Are. The. Best.

Anyone else have advice for Zoe age 20? Leave it in the comments below!

Tearfully,
papa