SOMETHINGTOTHINKABOUT

Yesterday was my half-birthday; a full six months since I turned 17 in May. I guess it's becoming more or less of a tradition, now that I'm "celebrating" it again for the second year in a row. I didn't eat cake or make people buy me presents or throw myself a party or anything (though I did go to a fun Holiday staff party last night!). No, on my half-birthday I like to take the time to reflect on what I've accomplished and how I've grown in the last six months, and then think about what I'd like to do by my next birthday. It's almost like I'm assessing my life in "semesters" and then giving myself a theoretical report card :) Cheesy and weird, I know. But it's one of those things I like to do because it helps me look at the big picture, you know?

Anyways, I think my sense of independence and maturity has really sky rocketed in the last six months. After realising I only had a year left until I turn 18 and graduate, I pretty much went into responsible-young-adult-mode (aka researching universities, talking to guidance counsellors about scholarships, the works). So what's next in store for me? More independence, that's for sure. After I graduate, I want to move out of my parents' house and live on my own in Winnipeg before I venture out into the much bigger, scarier, Toronto. For one whole year, I'm going to get a roomie, pay for my own rent and groceries and keep a job while I take on being a post-high photographty student at my current school (surprise!) meanwhile, working my ass off to get into Ryerson!

I mean, I know I've always said I'd get the hell out of Winnipeg as soon as I graduated, but I really feel like staying behind one more year to live on my own and study photography is something I need to do for myself. Because as much as my whole being aches every time I think of the fact that I won't be in TO for another year, I know that deep down that I've got to learn how to walk first before I can run.

Daria Werbowy by Terry Richardson Vogue Paris May 2007