“I don’t mind that 30 isn’t what I imagined it would be because I love where life has taken me”

By Susie Dantzig

 As a child, 30 was old.  Even when I got to college, I thought my 22-year-old RA was old, so 30 was ancient.  A 30 year old was a grown-up, someone with a nice paying job, a house, kids, and a person who others called “sir” or “ma’am.” Now that I am 30, I don’t feel the need to adhere to any pre-conceived notion of what I thought 30 should be. We’ll start with relationships first. I have been in a loving, committed relationship for almost five years. We live together, work together, play together, and have committed ourselves to each other in every way, but we feel absolutely no need to get married, let alone have kids, any time soon. We enjoy having the time and finances to go out to eat where we want, travel, train for races, play in the local orchestra, live in the city. The kids will come, but not for another five years or so, and we’ll enjoy each other in the meantime. I mentioned finances, so we’ll approach that and career status next. I went to a top ranked university and at times I feel like I haven’t been as successful professionally or financially as my colleagues. But I like to remind myself that while those goals are worthy to strive for, I have accomplished so much outside of the office. I’ve run three marathons, I’ve travelled the world, I am in the community orchestra, I have a master’s degree, and I am writing a book teaching children the violin. It might be a while before I rise above middle management at the office, but I love my job and I make a salary that affords me to take care of myself and enjoy the activities I’ve mentioned. I don’t mind that 30 isn’t what I imagined it would be because I love where life has taken me.  Who knows where I’ll be at 40, but if I’m as happy then as I am today then life will be good.

About Susie:

Author of “Val the Violin: A Violin Instruction Book for Players in Pre-School & Up”. Growing up in the D.C. area, Susie Dantzig earned a B.A. in Music and Biology from the University of Virginia and furthered her music education with a Master’s in Music Business from the University of Miami. She currently resides in D.C., working for a performing rights organization. 

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