It was midnight. I was 23, one year out of college, and I was wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I made a list divided into two parts: “life goals” and “career goals.” As soon as I finished writing I noticed a stark difference in my priorities. “Life goals” was empty, and my entire focus had been on “career goals,” which had many different jobs listed. I realized how sad it was that I had been only focusing on my career. It made me think about how society conditioned me from a young age to place an overwhelming importance on my job. A few minutes later, Aria’s story started coming to me. 

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Fast forward to January 2020. I’m now 25 and I was becoming frustrated with how long it was taking to get the book fully completed. I remembered, like Aria learns, to be patient. Then quarantine hit and suddenly we were all forced to slow down. In the midst of dealing with a national pandemic, Aria’s story actually seemed to be falling into place at the right time, resonating with the lessons the pandemic is teaching us. With her story I wanted to decenter the emphasis on career, focus on who we are as people not what we do, and signify the importance of family and community—all lessons that 2020 seems to be putting in front of us. These values are especially important when we look at building a community together founded on racial equity. 

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I know I will continue to think about how to put these values into practice, and so will Aria. My hope is that this book creates space to start conversations with each other about these ideas, and that we always remember to slow down and ask ourselves, who do we want to be?

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-Kyra Burns