Growing Up | Wandering New Heights

I haven’t shared much about my height as of yet. Actually, I don’t think that I’ve mentioned it at all, other than the fact that I’ve dubbed myself “Curious Tall Girl.”

That’s probably because I honestly don’t think about my height all that much. I don’t wake up in the morning thinking, “I’m 6-foot-4… I wonder what I should do with my super long limbs today!” And while my height is a shocking revelation for others, it doesn’t really phase me. After all, I’ve been close to this height since I was thirteen years old, so I’ve had the past twenty or so years to get used to it.

I clearly remember the first day of freshman year basketball practice… yes, I played basketball… I know, such a stereotypical tall person thing to do. Our coaches were handing out our jerseys, filling out our stats, and calling us up one-by-one to get our measurements. This was the first time that I can remember getting a panicked, sinking feeling in my stomach strictly due to the uneasiness I felt about my height. I knew that there was no hiding it now… after years of speculating, everyone would finally know exactly how tall I was, including me. I was also in the dark about how tall I was, because I had avoided all measurement devices since my last painful growth spurt.

Receiving the “Most Improved Player” award from my basketball coaches

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I am a big fan of lists, especially to-do lists. I enjoy putting pencil to paper and manually writing down each item in an organized numbered column. I also like the satisfied feeling that comes over me when I get to check off each completed task. It’s as though with each entry, I am extracting that piece of information from my brain and am somehow creating new space for more useful tidbits of knowledge, like which places in SF have the best patio seating for our increasingly warm, sunny days. In fact, that’s a great blog post idea… excuse me while I jot that down.

At some point in 2012, I sat down and wrote a list. However, this wasn’t an ordinary to-do list, but a deeply personal one. I wrote a list titled, 35 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 35. Now before you start shaking your head and scolding me for making such a cliché and stress-inducing list, please let me explain what prompted me to write such a personal challenge.

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