Lately I have found myself thinking about little kid Jenna a lot. I think it’s because I’ve been spending so much time around family, friends, and their kids. I keep thinking about what little Jenna would have thought about where I am now. In my early- to mid-twenties I started traveling a lot, in part because I did not have the opportunity to do so as a kid. I knew that little Jenna would love to hear about the places we went, the things we saw, the food we tried.
When I started graduate school, I was pretty sure little Jenna would have been like, ‘uh… science?’ Biotechnology was never my plan A. Honestly, working in any kind of biomedical field wasn’t on my radar until the end of high school/beginning of college. If I became a librarian, an artist, a graphic designer - honestly any kind of creative field, bonus points if it involved clothes and fashion - I think little Jenna would be saying “yes, grown-up me is so cool.” When I think back too hard I frequently find myself asking “how the heck did I get here?”
I think, as humans, we have a great capacity to change as we age. There will always be little pieces of little us, but we are so malleable and capable of growing and becoming different adults. I do enjoy science, especially biology. Lately I’ve been learning more about gardening, and I’ve been considering diving deeper into botany and environmental science, reading about native plants that are friendly for pollinators.
Most of my hobbies are still creative. Sewing, drawing, painting… I also love reading and, occasionally, writing. It’s kind of nice to think that anyone can change direction at any point in their life, though. I read this article from Dr. Anthony Kovatch, pediatrician, who started running in his mid-forties and now runs marathons. He finished last in the Pittsburgh Marathon at 73 years old in last place, taking 7 hours 41 minutes, and he’s proud of that. He inspired me so much. While I have never been interested in running a marathon - 26.2 miles feels like more than I need to feel accomplished - I have always wanted to run a half marathon. He makes me feel like, not only can I run a half marathon, but I can FINISH a half marathon as well. Someone has to finish last, and I feel no shame if it happens to be me.
I also recently started gardening. My dad always had a double plot (they’re pretty big plots!) at our local community garden. This past year he moved and, rather than give up the whole garden, passed one of his two plots on to me. I’ve worked really hard on it over the past two months and it’s so exciting and satisfying to see everything grow! I can’t underestimate how much work it has been. I feel like 90% of gardening is weeding (SO! Much! WEEDING!), but when I see something new pop off on a vine or a branch it all feels so worth it. Our chamomile is blooming, tomatoes are still green but growing, we have cantaloupe (!!) growing on the vines, and even a little tiny fairytale eggplant making its debut.
New hobbies can be picked up any time, things that once didn’t interest you can become satisfying and exciting out of nowhere. It’s been so delightful to experiment with my time and try new things in my mid-thirties. On one hand, I question why I never tried embracing new hobbies before, but I think maybe you’re introduced to new things when you need it most.