The 20’s at home in Vermont (2015)

I wrote something for a column when I was 22. The column is for the local newspaper and it is about people in their 20's. I was optimistic about living in Vermont, and I still am. That said, Boston and New York will always have most of the work.

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I graduated with a degree from the University of Vermont last year. A year later I was looking through the Valley News Classified and saw an ad for a job for someone with my background.

I emailed the president and got offered a different job to work in a lab and I accepted it. My salary came through a grant awarded to a startup company called DoseOptics, LLC. The company is located at the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center. Because we are working on a radiation therapy dose delivery verification device, I spend a lot of time in the Radiation Oncology department at the medical center. It is a quiet space and I am thankful for the kind energy of employees and patients. Some of these people have lived more than three of my lifetimes.

I spend free time with people I met in my teens. When the snow melts, I play pickup soccer with a coed group in Hanover. It is mostly people connected to Dartmouth in some way but some people are not; The age range seems to be from elementary school to AARP member.

In the winter, I ski and ride with the same handful of longtime friends in Vermont. I used to go about 50 days a year, but at the start of my 20's I started going three days a year. Skiing so often was immoderate, but as a result I made lifelong friends who I always have something to talk about with.

This column is about the 20's, but I think the 20's are a lot like any other age. I know I have doubts and fears and hopes and dreams and other people do too. Being young is not easy, but I haven’t found it too onerous either. I do find that I get to know myself more and more as I grow up. This seems to take time.

Being social is enjoyable, and I learn a lot from talking with friends and strangers. The first two friends that come to mind are my parents. We have a good understanding; I help them with their digital devices and they provide perspective when I ask good questions. The advice they give is generally good.

I was born at APD and grew up in Hartland. The Upper Valley is home, and I might never leave. I like to read the obituaries of longtime locals who never left and think about how everything they needed was in their community.

I think they were happy, and maybe I will be one of them. I would like that.