There’s not a lot you can think of at the moment when you hit a milestone. There’s shock, relief, a sense of accomplishment and pride all in one. There’s also a little fear. I suppose that’s how I feel, and why I’ve come to post about this a little late.
June 10th 2025 has become a very special day for me; it is my 10th anniversary of officially establishing RovaDova. My blog, my brand, and really, myself. I would never have imagined that the simple homework task I was randomly given by my dad my first day in Texas would soon spiral to something bigger, and much more personal. It’s now become a part of me, my identity.
Going through the archives you can not only find a recollection of history and random facts about general topics or even myself, but also a testimony and transformation of who I am.
In many ways I still am that bright smiled kid that really liked Teen Titans Go, but I’m also not. My aspirations have changed; so have my personality and thoughts, feelings and ideas and tastes. Everything reflected over 10 years, in over 500 posts.
I can see myself grow as a writer- even grow into becoming a writer. I never would have found myself liking writing or even found out I was good at it if I hadn’t started this. Even writing five sentences about my favorite toy seemed like such tedious work. Imagine how I would’ve felt then, knowing now I can write essays on topics such as politics and medicine and global events easily. Even more than that, imagine me telling my 12 year old self they aren’t researched pieces anymore, but opinion posts. Pure 5-7k words of my own detailed thoughts and ideas, critical and sympathetic in what I believe.
In this time I’ve dabbled and experimented with posts and ideas. I’ve done a live election blog for two different elections, and even a poll-based post using responses and opinions of my friends and teachers. I’ve made brief research papers about given topics. I’ve analyzed different wars and given my vantage on them in reports. I’ve tried so much, and have yet to do more.
But even more than that, it’s allowed me to develop the ability to express myself. Some find it in music or sports or other hobbies, but for me it has been writing. I can pour my heart out about anything I need or want to, no matter how big or small. Whether personal or professional, in any scenario or purpose. And while I still do have much to learn and grow from as a writer, seeing the progress in these 10 years, and the fact that I’ve grown to love it, is enough for me right now.
It once killed me to have to write a post everyday, but now it kills me that I don’t have time to write more than once a week. I yearn to write these days, even if it’s about the most random topics. I want to put my thoughts down, say something, post something. That’s how I’ve become in these 10 years, and I really do owe it all to my blog.
10 years ago I never would have thought I would still be here, writing under my nickname turned pseudonym to a small unknown audience, and yet here I am.
That’s why I’d like to take this as a celebration; a celebration for myself, to myself, for what I have done in this decade. I’d like to celebrate myself for never giving up, even when people told me it was lame, or none of my friends had to do it, or when I got busy in school and was stressed. I’d like to celebrate my growth as a writer, as someone who can and wants to continually express their ideas and is still yearning to grow.
And lastly, to thank my 7 year old self on June 10, 2015, for taking that first initiative- in that small furniture-less Irving apartment in a new state- no matter how difficult, to write and post something to officially establish RovaDova. Cheers to that.
Happy 10th Anniversary Rova.
Cheers to the RovaDova, she always does, just not today! 😛 You have tremendous capacity, you do, all you need is to channel it to things you want. Cheers to the 7 year old who took the first step!