Paige Ann Straus
I hope you enjoy this feature post by my dear friend Paige. May her whimsical words provide wisdom and remind you that life is worth living so have fun, learn along the way, and just do YOU.
Hello everyone! My name is Paige Straus, I’m 21 years old and I’m from Mission Viejo, California. Olivia Musel is my roommate, and she is truly amazing! A lot about me: I enjoy hunting for seashells on the beach, London fog lattes, the color orange, and big chunky silver rings. I have a list on my phone of all of my favorite words that I hear, some examples are “conglomerate”, “desiccate”, “inconsequential”, “synecdoche”, and “ubiquitous”. I lived in the forest for 3 months at a Summer camp for the past two years called the Lair of the Bear where I was the Head of the Maintenance Crew. I learned a lot about cleaning toilets, bunking beds, and how important it is to blast music as loud as you can while doing the dishes. I can play “Island in the Sun” by Weezer on the guitar. I can’t touch my toes. I was the President of Delta Gamma this past year (Man, what a learning experience). I don’t eat red meat (with the exception of an In-N-Out burger every year or so). I’ve hiked the tallest mountain in Southern California as well as all 5 peaks of San Diego in one day. I had my Bat Mitzvah on December 6, 2014 and my d’var Torah was about Harry Potter. I love funky sunglasses and pants. I’m always up to trying something once, I find you learn best by doing. I have a knack for untying knots, necklaces, and shoelaces. I have a lot of fun in whatever I do, life is meant to be lived! I have a resolution of not starting so many sentences with the letter “I”.
My dog, Oski, is TikTok famous and through this my Mom, Allison, has taught me how awesome things can be if you stick with doing what you love and believe in yourself. Marathons have never been something on my radar, but because of my Dad, Andrew, training for a half marathon and learning how to push myself further than ever imagined has taken up a lot of my time. “Competitive” was never something people called me, even as a kid. Oftentimes, the score of my softball or volleyball games was just a number. This still stands true today, and my brother Brian has reassured me that games are meant to be enjoyed and simply played. Academically, the struggle of being a student weighs on me often. Being a kinesiology major who just applied to graduate programs for exercise physiology it is easy to get caught up in the mundane routine of “eat, sleep, study” that is college. Ashley, my lifelong best friend, has shown me that you can be smart, successful, beautiful, and social; that life is not limited to you defining yourself as one category. Taking care of yourself in whatever way that may be has been one of my priorities thanks to Olivia Musel. Watering plants is a very valuable life lesson that Maxine, my “Booma” has shown me unknowingly, that compassion and caring for someone or something will help them blossom. And, how a walk to the cement slide in the neighborhood over like my Grandma Peggy used to do followed by a trip to Starbucks goes a long way, that it is the little things that make people feel loved.
When evaluating what really matters to me in life, I think I’ve been able to break it down into three words: connection, learning, and joy. I have plenty of experiences that satisfy all three of these values, but my favorite one comes from an experience that I did not expect to have left such an impact on me. This past year I was given the opportunity to spend an afternoon at a Senior Center here in San Diego. At the time I was bitter about it, I mean really you have to be some mensch to want to go spend your day at a Senior Center for a class rather than drinking mimosas with your friends (props to you if this is you). But, it was a rainy day and I didn’t have anything to do until later, so I decided to go. Boy am I grateful I did. I walk into an empty lobby and sit down in a chair, not quite sure what the next few hours of my day are going to be like. In walks Rosie sitting there in her bright pink puffer jacket and blue beanie, eager to have a conversation with me. After making small talk as usual when conversing with a stranger, Rosie started to open up to me about things she even acknowledged she rarely talks about and for the next three hours we were talking like old friends. Rosie showed me that you do find your purpose in life and that comes from experiencing every single drop of life the world has to offer. I saw a lot of myself in her in the conversation I had. And, at the end of the day, Rosie told me that if she ever had a daughter, she wished that she would be just like me. That is something I will never forget.
Thank you to Olivia for giving me this opportunity to tell you about myself and give some advice. I truly was not sure where this was going to go, but I’m glad it went like this. Something fun that my two friends Mikey, Gavin, and I would do at the beginning of the day this past summer was make a “Rules of the Day ''. Here are, in no particular order, some of my Rules of Life:
Theme everything.
Be like dry ice: so cool that it burns
I f someone asks for advice, give it to them straight
Nobody likes a kiss-ass
Take no prisoners
Take some prisoners if you’re into it
Let’s put the “we” in “weird”
Embrace and enhance
Curb your enthusiasm
No talking to the media
Wear sunscreen
Everything happens for a reason
Find a beer that you like that’s better than a Natty Light
It’s just a blister, you’re fine
Find love and then find it again
Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present
Okay, that last one was a quote by Master Oogway, but live it!!! Have fun, be weird, say yes, experience life, and find your own values that help you feel fulfilled!!! You won’t regret it :)
