The number 23 is believed to hold some significance – from the theory of the 23 enigma, to being a part of the famed LOST numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42), to the number of the best athlete ever. So on my 23rd birthday, I’m anxious for what this year will bring. Last year didn’t live up to its potential (the bottom of the sine curve of my life, as I like to call it) and I have full intention of making this next one infinitely better. With that in mind, I looked up some greats of our time to see their accomplishments till the age of 23. For all my fellow 1988-ers, let’s make this one count.
Michael Jordan
In the 1986-1987 NBA season Michael Jordan won the first of his 10 scoring titles with a career-high 37.1 points per game, and had one of the longest scoring streaks in NBA history with 40 or more points in nine straight games. He also was the first to score 3,000 points since Chamberlain, set a league-record with his 23 points in a row (Apr. 16) and became the first player to get 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season. In 1987 he won his first NBA slam dunk contest. Epic age 23.
Bill Gates
By the time Gates was 23, he had scored a 1590/1600 on his SAT, attended and dropped out of Harvard, and registered the trade name “Microsoft” with the Office of the Secretary in New Mexico. Yeah.
The Microsoft team in 1978. Gates is the bottom left at age 23.
Mark Zuckerberg
In 2007, Facebook had acquired 41 million viewers and was the sixth most visited site on the Internet. Zuckerberg had also attended and dropped out of Harvard, began a triumphant life in Palo Alto and declined a $1 billion offer from Yahoo to buy Facebook.
Bruce Wayne/Batman
In Batman Begins Bruce turns 30 upon his return to Gotham and he was gone for 7 years, which means he started training to become Batman at 23. Hmmm…
Roger Federer
In 2004, Federer became the first person since 1988 to win 3 Grand Slam titles in on year. First title came at the Australian Open over Marat Safin 7–6(3), 6–4, 6–2. He then won his second Wimbledon crown over Andy Roddick 4–6, 7–5, 7–6(3), 6–4.Federer defeated the 2001 US Open champion, Lleyton Hewitt, at the US Open for his first title there 6–0, 7–6(3), 6–0.He won three ATP Masters Series 1000 events. He took the ATP 500 series event at Dubai, and wrapped up the year by winning the year-ending championships for the second time. Bad.ass.
Asiya Ali
When my mom was 23, she got married to someone she barely knew and moved across the world, leaving behind everything familiar, and moving toward the complete unknown. Her confidence, enthusiasm and patience is unmatched.
Aamir Khan
At the age of 23, Aamir Khan began his prosperous career when he appeared in his first major bollywood role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.
Wonder Woman
No one really knows exactly what age Wonder Woman is, but the guess is that she’s in her early-mid 20’s. For the purpose of this post and some added inspiration for myself, I’m going to go ahead and say she’s 23 in most of her stories. She exhibits super strength, super speed, super stamina, super reflexes and super durability (amongst much more). So, can I make this year WONDERous?
