The person who stands today isn’t the same person who stood a year ago,

A month ago,

Or even just yesterday.

I am constantly being reshaped, reimagined.

Growing to be something more than I am in this moment

But do my experiences define me

Or do I define my experiences?

Was it all destiny, something written in stone?

Or have I written my own path with every choice I make?

I chose to quit soccer and basketball when I found no more joy in it.

I chose to help immigrants who didn’t speak an English.

I chose to pursue a career in art when everyone told me it would lead to a

dead end.

I chose to cry for the lives lost in Orlando

Then come out to my friends and family because I decided

Fear would not decided my fate for me.

I chose to take that next step in a relationship and show him

I love him.

I chose to open up to complete strangers and tell them things

I hadn’t even told my own father.

I chose to stand up, speak out, and question the world around me.

Because just like me,

The world is constantly changing.

It and this past year does not define me

But I define it.