Starting a Bucket List

Made by Tracyn

How did I even come to creating a bucket list? This is the first time I'm actually taking a moment to think about it and trace my motivations behind generating a list of things I wanted to do in my lifetime. I guess it had to do with a relatively recent reassessment of priorities in my life.

My life until college consisted of being focused on succeeding in school, making sure I did well in academics, participated in extracurriculars, and held part-time employment to instill in me the values of hard work and independence. With these two basic qualities, I would be able to succeed in anything else I undertake, as my parents have proven to me through their own life story. They escaped the war in Vietnam and eventually made their way to America in the late 1970s, a land completely foreign to them and which they basically only brought with them the clothes on their backs. From scratch, they eventually built a comfortable life for themselves (my dad coming to the US with only $20 to now living a comfortable, retired life in Hawaii (living here ain't cheap, so to have retired in their 40's is quite an impressive feat)). Their life motto: "Work hard now so you don't have to later." 

For me, working hard started young. My parents used to own a lunch wagon (a van filled with foods and other treats that my dad would drive around Waimanalo to sell to the locals), which I helped out with before and after school (getting up at 5-something in the morning and helping with chores until dinner was the norm). My parents wanted a better life for my sister and me, and so they always emphasized our education. Being a kid, my main priority outside of helping my parents was school, so that is where I focused my energy, being very conscientious and studious in my academics.

Family posing after Dad, the "Manapua Man," came home from work

(First lunchwagon, blue, on the left) 

 Parents posing in front of second, newer lunchwagon

Through these years until college during my undergrad, I didn't do many things that were "fun" just for the heck of it. I was busy trying to get straight A's, being involved in school groups, doing community service, and working a part-time job that I didn't care to do things "just because." But now that my years of schooling are behind me (well currently trying to get my Master's, but on a part-time basis, at the time of this post), I've finally come to think of things I want to do to enjoy life instead of solely focusing on work and missing out on opportunities. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for being raised in the way that I was because I've had great accomplishments in my life thus far that I attribute to my work ethic and which have produced excellent life habits (some of which, by the way, will come in handy in helping me to achieve some of the goals on my bucket list). It's just about learning to also live a little, in the moment, and for myself.

To see my bucket list, click here or "Bucket List" on the right side of the blog.