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It's difficult to determine what the defining benchmarks of our lives are. Is it based on achievement? Satisfaction? Or something just as simple as the passing of time? I'll start off by listing some of the things I have achieved in life:

1.League-wide Sportsmanship Award two years running in little league baseball, and made the All-Star team.
2.District Solo Competition winner for the woodwinds category in 5th grade.
3.Tested out of 7th and 8th grade math and was given high school coursework instead.
4.Wrote and published a 50,000+ word novel in a month, at the age of 14.
5.Had an article about me featured on the front page of a large local newspaper.
6.Played 4 years of varsity tennis, 3 of those years serving as the team captain.
7.Was the youngest ever editor and Editor-In-Chief of our school's newspaper.
8.Accepted into every college that I applied to.
9.Was the house manager of the largest cooperative house in North America.
10.Serve as an associate editor of UC Berkeley's undergraduate history journal.

All of these things may sound impressive, and to a certain extent they are. I am proud of the things that I have been able to accomplish over the years, as they are all a sign of hard work that I have put in. But with that being said, all of these things seem to lose their value when I begin to judge my life.

That leads to the issue of satisfaction. At what time in my life was I truly happy with what I was doing? It's a question not easily answered, as sometimes it is nearly impossible to gauge your own feelings at any given point in time. To me it boils down to the moments I remember most, regardless of any physical value these things may have:

1.Playing Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers in Kindergarten with my best friends, Joey and Larry.
2.The annual Thanksgiving football games played on our street with my cousins.
3.The taste of Grandma's beef brisket, and her succulent cheesecake for dessert.
4.Middle school Wednesdays: early release, Jack In The Box, and hanging out at the library playground and under the overpass.
5.Endless hours of playing Goldeneye and Super Smash Bros. with my brother.
6.My ex-girlfriend's little brother running to my arms and giving me a kiss right as I would walk through the door.
7.The countless late night tennis sessions, along with the most hilarious conversations.
8.My Grandma telling me that “only boring people get bored,” and “don't laugh at your brother or your Grandpa's jokes, it just encourages them.”
9.Learning that I'm going to have a sister (in-law), and I'm going to be a best man.
10.Saying “I love you” for the first time to the love of my life, and the way she can still make my heart skip a beat.

I'm not going to get any awards, certificates, plaques, or medals for these things, but what does that matter? As I see it, the first list of accomplishments is just my resume. The list of what I hold dear in my memories is what defines my life. My life up until now can be defined by the feelings that these memories incite. Each feeling relates to a time in my life that I will always remember, even as my memory starts to go. It's nearly impossible to predict what will happen in the future, though. Time will pass, and memories will most likely fade, but I believe that new ones will appear in their place, and will continue to serve as the defining benchmarks of my life.