My name is Evan Scott. And there's a million things I haven't done, but just you wait.

 Few people like reading the preface of a story. Despite its best intentions, the preface is often a busy and monotonous passage, leading most people to play the "skip your turn" card against it. But the preface is important! It establishes why the story exists, what it will be about, and its intent. For this reason, I invite you to suffer through the next five minutes of tearjerking, heartstring pulling backstory, so that you can better understand the rest of my narrative.

Preface

It's been an interesting first year of adulthood; it was full of new experiences, mistakes, and self-discovery. I say first year because, although I'm 21 years old, I spent my first two years of adulthood serving a church mission, which I consider to be a gray area.

When I started college last fall, I felt the freedom of being in charge of my own life and tried to do a million things in response. I took a positive psychology class, learned to computer program, play guitar, ice skate and ran my first half-marathon. I felt that life was a race against other people-- I got caught up, in catching up. But I learned that life is not a sprint, it's a marathon. And as a result of these exploits, I reached new highs and hit new lows.

The stressors of school, work, and social life exposed flaws in my personality that needed (and still need) to be addressed. I experienced lows that were particularly difficult and foreign, but a reliance on God and the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ pulled me through the darkest times. And not only did these struggles bring me closer to God, but they also helped me discover my emotional support network:

My mother, who spent countless hours listening to me complain, without interruption (even though hindsight has shown I was often the one in the wrong).

My perpetual cheerleader, Carlos, who always saw my potential and reminded me of it often (and still does).

And many other friends who showed up when I needed them most (you know who you are, thank you).

In the mission, my life was not my own. I left my childhood behind and spent two years focusing on others. Spending so much time in limbo left me confused when I returned home and tried to remember who I was before the mission. It has been a complicated and difficult journey to discover who I am, remember who I was, and decide who I want to become. I'm definitely not the same person I was a year ago and I like to believe I've made some progress.

I often relate to Alexander Hamilton, as presented by Lin Manuel, because he spent a long time on an island-- limited by circumstance. And when he makes it to America, he says one of my favorite lines, "there's a million things I haven't done, but just you wait." What he says is true, there are a lot of things I haven't done. But I will do the things I said I would, dreamed I could, and others thought were impossible. I will make mistakes, it's inevitable. But as Hamilton confidently declared, "I am not throwing away my shot" (my second favorite line).

Wherever life takes me, I plan to enjoy the journey, practice confidence, maintain my values, assume the best in others, and fulfil my life calling (whatever that calling turns out to be).

Thanks for reading the preface. If you've made it this far, you're at least mildly interested in what happens with me and my life. So stick around, make some popcorn, and enjoy the show.