Ten things my daughter does that make me proud

My daughter Sara recently turned 18 and now that she's an adult I'm reflecting on some of the (many) things I love about her. These are the ones that immediately came to mind and I'm sure I could list a lot more.

1. She's fiercely independent

She likes to learn and do things herself without waiting for others to do them for her.

2. She's resourceful

When she had to do a year of remote learning because of the pandemic and didn't get to hang out with her friends in person,  they started a podcast together so they could have a way to just hang out and talk about things like music online even if they couldn't physically be in the same room.

3. She's creative

She learned how to play the piano when she was five and then used what she learned about music to teach herself to play guitar and sing. She also likes to draw and has developed her own style of creating characters.

4. She's entrepreneurial

She and her friends had an opportunity to interview some local bands on their podcast and she ended up designing album covers for a couple of them. She also designed a logo for a small record label, which then signed her when she started her own band a few months later.

5. She isn't interested in a traditional career path

She's going to cosmetology school because she isn't interested in traditional college. With her music, art, hair and makeup skills, she's also coming up with a lot of career ideas that are way more interesting than a corporate job would ever be.

6. She makes me laugh

Even though she's a teenager she still doesn't mind hanging out with her dad and showing me funny things she found online or telling me about new music she's into.

7. Equality comes natural to her

She has friends from all different kinds of backgrounds, nationalities, genders, races, religions and sexual orientations and genuinely cares about everyone.

8. She's supportive of her friends

She's happy when the people she cares about are happy

9. She's "cool"

She got her first tattoo a few weeks after her 18th birthday and invited me to come with while she got it (I have several of them myself and she knew I'd like it).

10. She sticks with things she's passionate about

She became a vegan when she was 16 and has kept up with her diet ever since without making a big deal about it.