I turned 18 years old on April 13th. The way I spent my 18th birthday was so different from all of the rest of my birthdays as far as I can remember anyway. I mean, I definitely did some special things for previous birthdays, but my 18th birthday was different. It was the first birthday that I didn't spend all day, or even most of the day, with my family.
On Saturday, instead of going out to eat for my birthday or being with my family for the majority of the day, I was at the FBLA State Conference. Quite honestly, I was happy for the change of experience. I love my family so very much, but it was just a nice change of pace to spend most of my birthday with other people besides them. (I hope that doesn't make me a bad person.) I really felt like an adult on Saturday.
So, I'm going to run through my Saturday with what I can remember. I might put some events in the wrong order, but I'll do my best to not do that. So, I woke up early on Saturday to get ready for the conference. I got to the Hyatt a little bit before 8 and basically freaked out because I thought my event was early in the morning. Eventually, after roaming around for 10 minutes or so, I found Mrs. Woodward and all was well. Although, I did spam Casey's phone quite successfully while I was in my panicked state. I hung out around Mrs. Woodward until the crew arrived. Then we pretty much just explored the hotel a little bit. We found a piano, but I didn't get the chance to "play" it. Caleb went off for his event. We roamed around some more, Casey went for her event, then a group of us sat down to listen to one of the leadership presentations. It was rather boring to be honest. The people next door to us were having a good time though, but that room was packed! Got out of the leadership presenation and walked around some more with Jordan and Caroline. We stumbled upon Mrs. Strosnider and Cassy, who was practicing for her event. Stood around and chatted some more until Caroline and I went for our events. Coincidentally, Cristian was at the conference too so he approached me and said Happy Birthday, which was sweet. Caroline and I came back from our event. She left for lunch and I probably just talked and walked around with some people after that until Jordan left for his event and came back. Caleb got pretty obsessed with the raffle during that time, haha. When he finished up, the four of us (Casey, Jordan, Caleb, and I) ventured half a mile to Five Guys and half a mile back to the hotel. It was unbelievably nice to walk to Five Guys and back. After coming back to the hotel, we found out that Cassy hadn't gone yet. We had our ice cream social at three. (I didn't have any ice cream though! They all sang Happy Birthday to me though, which was embarrassing and sweet at the same time!) By that time, Cassy had gone in to do her event and finished up fairly quickly. Kayla, Meagan, Casey and I were hanging out outside and chatting. Then we all went down to Panera. Angela and VP Jordan joined us later. We blew two hours just sitting there in Panera talking, lazing around, and playing games on Cassy's iPad. I finally decided that I had enough of sitting around and doing nothing so I successfully dragged Meagan, Casey, VP Jordan, and Cassy to explore the shops around the hotel. We went to the Apple Store first. After that, we went to Paper Source, courtesy of myself. Then we waltzed into a Thai restaurant for dinner where Casey and I shared dinner. I think it was Meagan's first time having Thai food. Cassy fell in love with the mango ice cream. We got back to the hotel and ventured into the Panera (all of us except for Meagan, I believe) to go and sit with Caleb, Jordan, and Caroline, who all had such a good time to bond that it made me jealous. I just wanted those three to love me, haha. We sat in there and talked until it was time for us to go upstairs for the awards ceremony. Beginning of the awards ceremony consisted of blasting music for a good 10-15 minutes at least. At one point, Cassy stood up and started dancing, which caught the attention of so many people that she went out into the aisle with two other people (one guy and one girl) and the three of them just danced. It was crazy and hilarious. It took forever to get through all of it and we all got pretty restless. Five of us managed to place for states. Cassy took 5th in her event, Casey took 4th in hers, Jordan took 3rd in his, Kayla and Meagan took 2nd in theirs, and I somehow grasped 1st in my own.
I was really shocked to have won first. My heart was pounding as I listened for my name to be called to the holding area. I went up on stage with four other people. The lights were so blinding and I couldn't see far out into the audience for my crew. I listened intently as the names were called. It finally came down to second and first place. When my name wasn't called for second, I sort of stood there in disbelief with a dumbfounded expression. I couldn't believe that I actually took first. For the first time in my life, I had won something and it wasn't just an individual accomplishment. It was recognition for Sherando too. I was so happy.
The State Conference really did turn out to be such a great way to spend my birthday. I'm so fortunate to have had the chance to attend. I hope more underclassmen join up in FBLA and compete in events. If I can win something, then there is no doubt that they can work hard and win too. (Although, I didn't really work hard. I barely studied for both tests and still managed it. I guess I have more school smarts and common sense than I give myself credit for.) I felt so confident on my birthday while I was at the conference. Yes, I did worry about the way I looked a couple of times, but it was so fleeting. I was glowing with excitement and self-approval way before the awards ceremony. I just felt so free. It was nice to spend time with people that I'm not usually with. It was really nice.
After everything was all over, my brother, Shaun, picked me up and drove to our brother's (Rehaan) house; Aisha was already there. I received birthday flowers, two birthday cards (one from Shaun and one that was probably purchased by Aisha but signed by everyone), and lots of love. We did the cake even though it was late. I knew that they used a trick candle because I saw it spark. It was pretty funny. We all had cake, except for Farah. Aisha had bought me some cheesecake from Whole Foods or wherever and I ate half of that too. I ate pretty poorly on my birthday, but still had a fantastic day overall. I was pretty happy.
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