In 1999 I heard the phrase “Know Thyself” as the mantra used by the Oracle to determine if Neo was the One, or not. Little did 9 year old me know that I would hear myself repeating this phrase long after first viewing The Matrix in a small movie theatre in Nanuet, New York (thanks for bringing me to every scifi movie regardless of it’s rating dad). I memorized it because being the One meant you knew you were the hero, through and through.

However soon after I spent my adolescence in Connecticut never really feeling like the hero of my own life. Others around me were always doing better, feeling better, and generally looking like the star of their own movie, as if their role had been pre-written. It was more than a decade later that I took the Oracle’s advice and remembered “You don’t believe in any of this fate crap. You’re in control of your own life.” It was the seed of a soon-to-be itch I would continue to scratch at into my adulthood.

After a 2 year stint living Florida with little to no growth beyond my high school experience, I returned to CT believing that I needed to redouble my efforts to start my life anew. But what life? To where? Luckily (in hindsight) I suffered from a heart-wrenching breakup that forced me to choose: Live my life as the hero or continue to pretend that I had no control over my circumstance. That choice and my resolve to become a better version of myself, eventually leading me to become a leader among my peers, an adventurer to distant places, and years later, a trailblazer across the U.S.

While I continue to face setbacks and challenges to this day, I welcome the opportunity to grow and become more wise because of them. I put in the time to examine myself, face my flaws and learn many lessons. Now entering my thirties, I aim to share my experience with others so that we can all grow to “know ourselves” and learn what it takes to feel like a hero in our own lives.