Every year since 2011,
I’ve made a video in which I answer the
same set of questions in order to see how
I change from year to year.
Let’s introduce the past me's!
Here’s 2011 me.
I really don’t like this question.
This is the first year you’ve done this.
You literally just made the questions.
You did this to yourself.
Here’s 2012 me.
He’s cool, laid back, and emotionally repressed.
Here’s 2013 me.
He’s fun, quirky, and emotionally repressed.
Here’s 2014 me.
He’s gay.
And emotionally repressed.
Here’s 2015 me.
Unfortunately.
Please turn it off.
Nobody wants this.
Here’s 2016 me.
I feel like so many of my problems come from
overanalyzing how I’m doing.
You took it too far!
Now you’re not emotionally repressed enough!
Here’s 2017 me, with a newfound independence.
Unfortunately.
And here’s 2018 me.
[chill music]
What is your favorite book?
As I have for the last several years,
I will be subtly evading all of the “favorites”
questions by instead listing several of my
favorites that I encountered this year.
And some of my favorite books I’ve read
this year included A Small Place, The Argonauts,
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, If Beale Street
Could Talk,
and This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,
which is a sociology book about online trolling.
And also it made me cry, which is not what
one would expect from a sociology book about
online trolling.
But in fairness, I’d say one of the main
ways I’ve changed this year is that it’s
become extremely easy to make me cry.
Just, like, put on Finding Dory, and I’m
destroyed.
In fact, for the rest of this video, if something
made me cry,
I’m gonna put a crying emoji on the side of screen,
so that you can have a better
understanding of my emotional stability
levels this year.
[pop]
What is your favorite movie?
Some of my favorite movies I saw this year
included In the Mood for Love, Eighth Grade,
Amadeus, Blindspotting, and Jeanne Dielman.
What is your favorite television show?
Favorites this year included BoJack Horseman,
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Doctor Who, and
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
What music have you been listening to?
[“My My My” by Troye Sivan]
["Goddamn These Vampires" by The Mountain
Goats]
["Everything's Alright" by Kimya Dawson]
["Pink + White" by Frank Ocean]
["No More Shame, No More Fear, No More Dread"
by AJJ]
["Futile Devices" by Sufjan Stevens]
What do you do often?
School.
YouTube.
Movies.
The board game Secret Hitler.
Crying.
And now for INSIDE JOKES POWER ROUND.
Yum, some delicious boopadoos!
Some scrumptious primeapples.
Some tasty pricotascots.
Why are none of my snacks covered in chocolate?!
What friend group do you see the most often?
The friends I see the most often are the friends
I live with, especially the ones on my floor,
pictured here brushing our teeth.
What job do you want to have?
I really don’t like this question.
Why did you do this to us, 12-year-old me?
Every year, we must face the uncertainty!
In the past, I’ve always answered this question
with jokes, or by just saying, like, I don’t know.
I used to be very enthusiastic about embracing
uncertainty, and embracing the fact that nobody
really knows what they’re doing.
And I still think there’s value in embracing
uncertainty.
But I also now recognize that when people
ask questions like this, they really don't care.
They are not asking me to commit definitively
to a career path.
They just want me to give an answer and stop
monologuing to them about my overwhelming
self-doubt so that the conversation will stop
being awkward.
So I’ll just say, for now, to relieve the
awkwardness,
that I want to be a YouTube influencer who
promotes vaping to children.
It’s time for a chat about my values.
Last year I said that my three primary values
were honesty, empathy, and appreciation.
Which I think I still agree with.
I’m bad at all three!
[chill music]
How is your life right now?
Well right now it’s bad!
But for most of the year it’s been pretty
good, so let's just go with that.
I decided on my major.
Probably.
I’m probably majoring in sociology.
So that’s an interesting update, I guess.
I really don’t like talking about myself.
...I say after my ninth consecutive year of
answering questions about myself for these videos.
Look, I don’t control this, okay?
I don’t have free will!
How do you think your life will be at this
time next year?
It’ll be… fine…
I guess.
You know what, let’s just do resolutions.
I’ve decided that’s what this question
means now.
I think my life at this time next year will
contain 25 more books that I’ve read.
I think my life at this time next year will
have 5 new videos that I’ve made that are
over 8 minutes.
Presumably a lot of videos under 8 minutes,
as well, but I have a vision.
For my YouTube channel.
And I would like to meet it more than I have
been.
I have two more goals that I'm not saying
on YouTube, but you should remember them,
one year from now me.
And finally, I think my life at this time
next year will be completely amazing, and
I’ll be the happiest person on the planet.
Realistic and achievable.
What did you say about that question last
year and were you correct?
There’s a part of me that worries that as
college becomes normal and stops being a new
environment, I'll slip into old thought patterns
again.
Nope!
Instead you have new harmful thought patterns!
[fun music]
