Rockin’ 20s

You get it?? It’s a play on words because we're in our 20s, we're in Rochester, we’re rockin it, and we're living in the 20s! It just makes sense!! Please enjoy our conversation about what it is like to be in our early-mid twenties, what we’ve learned, the expectations held and the reality of the twenties, and how we’ve grown throughout the years.

Your twenties are supposed to be your prime! They are full of many joys and pains, love and heartbreaks, travel and exploring, and they help you balance having fun with being a responsible young adult. The further you get into the twenties the better you become at figuring out this thing we call life. For us we lived our twenties so differently, and this is just comparing the early twenties that I, Mia, am in when My was going through her early twenties. My is quick to tell you how high school did not prepare her for the real world, there are no classes that really teach you about finances and being responsible. While I think school was very useful and I did take a 6 month class that kind of taught that I have to slightly agree with her, everything I learned was from my very responsible parents. They taught me how to work hard, to save my money, how to open up a credit card, and how to pay my bills on time. They always supported me but they did have the rule of me having to pay my own way for the things I wanted to do, including school. Fortunately for My and I we both had the option of going to a trade school our junior and/ or senior year of school. You’d spend a half day there and at the end of the year or two get certified in the trade of your choice. By the age of 16 I was a certified dental assistant and started working at a dental office after school. My however went for nursing assistant and later went to college then decided to go back to that same trade school later for dental assisting which was the best decision! We both thankfully have a lot of freedoms with our jobs and really enjoy it. My and I took different routes but ended up in the same place. And that’s the thing about your twenties, they’re all about figuring things out and finding your way! For me I had a strict and rigid five year plan and honestly I am not too far off, I’m doing exactly what I planned out to do since I was 15/16 years old, now that may change in my future, but I’m OK with that. Honestly though there were a lot of unexpected things that came up in those five years and I will say, I did not expect to be living in Rochester still. I fully expected to be in Wallkill or Patterson, NY! Looking back I wouldn’t have been as ready as I am now to be there though and it was a struggle not being there for me but I am so happy I’m not! Both My and I have the goal of moving to those areas though. For her, it wasn’t a matter of readiness, but like we said before we sometimes take a different route to where we want to end up. In the podcast My explains her struggles with making the right financial decisions with schooling, shopping, and just being overly generous. Now the pandemic was awful, but fortunately for her it was a opportunity to use that money coming in from the government to prepare herself for future moves.

Another thing about our twenties we’ve noticed is that who we are and our interests have changed. I personally love who I am right now, I am constantly working on myself and constantly trying to better myself, but who I am is exactly who I expected to be. And My and I talked about this too, one change for her was her style. And you may be wondering, where talking about who we are, what does that have to do with style? But if you know My, she loves to shop and look nice! So in her early twenties and before her twenties she wore a lot of flashy clothes and had all the new shoes and new watches. But as she grew she realized that stuff didn’t matter and now you can always catch her in a sweat suit (IDK if that a good or bad thing though LOL). As for me, I probably should try harder and I’m just thankful that I’m out of the cringey stage of my life that I don’t speak of… so lets move on! Other than appearances as we grow the way we view friendships change too. As usual we all go through a phase when we want to be friends with everybody, both My and I went through that! Fortunately for me my mom was kind of strict with me and didn’t allow me to do that and taught me at a young age to see people for what they are, and honestly all my life I’ve had a good amount of friends but like a core two or three I really rock with. My had to learn the harder way though, she is so loving and loyal and those are beautiful qualities that can sometimes be taken for granted.. The older we both get the more we realize how important it is to be close to the people we love and the more we value the good friendships we have.

Another very important thing to mention is how were living in the 20s as in the decade. It took for our two friends to move to Roc from a different state for us to appreciate the city we’re living in! And Rochester is honestly the most amazing and interesting places there is! It is a city to be explored. While my interests growing up have always been the same, dance, art, music, and just spending time with friends, actually both My and I didn’t take the time out to do those things. The good thing about being in your twenties is that you have more freedom and you develop an appreciation for seeing finer arts in a more intimate setting. Before that we’d go to the mall, go bowling, go out to eat at basic restaurants, go to the movies, hang out at our houses. And there’s nothing wrong with that! We still do those things and they’re some of my favorite things to do! But adding in going to the museum, seeing art galleries, watching plays, listening to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, trying new exotic restaurants, and going to local coffee shops is so much more fun! Now while it’s only 2021 and COVID-19 just about stole a year of our lives, the best has yet to come! Use this time now to figure out who you want to be, to do the things you want to do. Use this time to have fun, to be with our family and friends. As always, stay safe, stay healthy, count your blessings, and live your life wisely and responsibly.

Thank you for the support, thank you for listening to our stories and experiences, we probably should’ve had someone in their 30s or 40s to write and record this but you’re stuck with us ;)

We love you always.

-Mia