Kate Yeo

2022: Happy (almost) new year!

I literally cannot believe it’s the last day of the year… looking back, 2022 has been one of the craziest years of my life, from wrapping up freshman year to skipping school and travelling around the world for conferences?!

my year in photos (a year of firsts!):

Taking my first coding class
Surviving -30°C weather
First time travelling with friends – spent spring break in NYC!
Does getting Covid count as a milestone…
Getting baptised on Easter!
Stockholm+50
My first in-person UN conference
First climate protest
First time back in Singapore since entering college
Reunited with Alfie ♡
Back to community work that resonates with me
I’ve always parked journalism under my list of potential career options and I finally got to try it! I have to say, it was a real wake-up call and humbling experience for me LOL I can still remember opening my first draft with my editor’s comments all over…… there were demoralising moments for sure but it was also one of the most accelerated and best learning experiences of my life :’)
Lisbon, Portugal for the UN Ocean Conference
Meeting Dr Vivian Balakrishnan at UNOC
Kickstarting SYCA’s policy workshop series
My first in-person sharing since the pandemic! At my alma mater :’)
Meeting Robert Swan
First time emceeing in years! CDL’s Youth4Climate Festival at the Singapore Botanic Gardens
SYCA’s booth at the Festival
Weekly spin and Ya Kun with my favs
Back to school… this was honestly one of the most stressful terms of my LIFE
First time doing triathlon!
Runs with my crazy triathlete-housemate
Fall foliage
Skipping classes AGAIN – this time to attend COP27. My first time in Africa!
First time moderating a panel – I found it more stressful than being a panelist lol
CNA interview
Speaking at the Zambia Pavilion
Next stop: Research in Vietnam
First time riding a motorbike!
Turned 21 in Ho Chi Minh City 🤍
Back to the States!
First time seeing my sister in a year
Leaving Instagram
Soaking in every moment of winter break…
…with lots of homecooked meals
and tons of books :’)

on paper this all sounds so crazy and maybe even incredible but honestly… so many of these moments just seem like a blur? at some point I stopped living in the moment and started counting down to the next thing. on hindsight I think I was mostly just counting down to a good break—which never came until now! behind all the excitement there was also a lot of burnout and negative spiralling. it’s honestly such a pity because these were once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that few have access to, and I wish I’d paced myself better so that I could’ve enjoyed each experience to its fullest.

thankfully the last few weeks has been a real season of slowing down and reflection for me, i.e. lots of prayer, BrenĂ© Brown, and journalling 🥲I’m learning that I can’t do it all — something that life has repeatedly taught me throughout the years but still takes so much intentional effort and the occasional rock-bottom moment to remind myself. I am also seeing that incongruent living is exhausting: my “accomplishments” this year – particularly in fall term – were often misaligned with my inner blueprint for joy and meaning. cliched as it sounds, I really do find the most enjoyment in very boring, ordinary things: whether it’s grocery shopping, watching musical-movies with friends, or spending an entire day at a cafĂ© with a new book. heck, I even enjoy spending an afternoon at the library going through the textbook and finally understanding what my professor was going on about in lecture. on the other hand, being the first customer at Starbucks at 6am every morning for COP27 prep, staying up past midnight because I want to top an exam… I never, ever want to live that life again.

so as I head into a new school term and the new year, I want to live a life that is ultimately community- and God-centred. I want to be a good friend: to radiate warm energy (!!) and to shower those around me with boundless love. ngl I still want to do well in classes and to continue my activism, but even as I strive to attain a certain degree of “success”, I first want to take care of myself and do things I love; to make time to read and journal and cook and bake!

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

may 2023 be a year of fixing my eyes on the unseen ♡

kqteyeo

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