21 Reflections

Cheers to 21 Years of Life!

Yes, today is the big day, it's my 21st birthday! I am celebrating my 21 years in a couple ways: 1) Treating myself to some pampering & self-care 2) Reflecting 3) A possible night out with friends 4) Having a fresh start!

Updates Galore!

Hello there😊

First of all, thanks for reading! I've just updated my blog with a ton of new (and old) content to satiate all your reading needs. Here they are, sorted for your enjoyment, starting with my most recent post about dealing with insecurities and perfectionism:

• Stuck in a Perfect Rut - Trying to be perfect doesn't work
• Poems
• Throwbacks
• Lessons from my early Stanford days
• Travels
• Service Reflections - Working with the Missionaries of the Poor in Jamaica

Read on for descriptions and sneak peeks!

Stuck in a Perfect Rut

Trying to be perfect doesn't work
It’s application season - everyone around me is applying to various summer positions etc and while I am, too, I more often find myself not applying to things than actually submitting applications...

True? I think not. The failure is in not even trying. As I've come to realize.

I am Shannon

On the afternoon of Monday December 5th, 20-year-old Shannon Banfield left her work office in Port-of-Spain, the bustling capital of Trinidad & Tobago. She called her mother to say that she was stopping by a couple stores downtown before taking transportation to return home.

She never reached home.

Growing Pains

What is it about growing up makes me feel like I'm losing my sense of self?

I feel this strange combination of sadness and happiness both at once, and I don’t quite know how to explain it. It is bittersweet. It is the happiness of gratitude alongside the sadness of a nagging nostalgia. It is a longing for my childhood and for more carefree times, or at least what I remember as being carefree times.
  Youth really is wasted on the young.

Mini-me in an era of carefree
times & unappreciated freedom