Trailblazing

I'm confronted with thoughts of the future as I think back to the past year. It's come to my attention that I have not lived at home for an extended period of time for over a year, and two summers ago may have been the last time I will have ever lived at home for longer than a few weeks at a time. I imagine this is part of the senior year experience, but I'm becoming uncomfortable with the idea of "real life." It may come as a surprise, but I'm not nearly as afraid of not getting a job as I should be. It's not my career that I'm concerned with starting; it's rather what it will be like to leave all that I know. I have a community of friendship and comfort at home. Here at school I can contact this community often, not to mention the friendships and mentors that I've gained while at Dickinson. I'm thrilled to start my own path and to be working with what I love, but I fear abandoning the community who has helped to raise me. I think I must come to terms with the idea that life is difficult in this way. It is about expanding and creating your own path. This is a journey through life; I am a traveler and sometimes I must blaze my own trail. Though I may be caught in the jungle and vines and foliage are thick and frightening, it may be the best way to find the river, to find my source of life and what I live for.

Multi-Tasking

It's been just over two weeks since my last post, but it feels like much longer. It has been a whirlwind, to say the least, of a start to the semester. It's two weeks later and I've written 4 papers, read 5 books, and worked 45 hours outside of school work and athletics. So much for a light senior year. In fact, the only reason I'm writing this post now is because Im doing it during a philosophy lecture in my Ethics class. Yeah, it's even less exciting than it sounds. Somehow that must be impressive, but my boredom has taken away even the impressiveness of that feat. I mean Ferris Bueller's teacher would win an award for Most Animated Teacher compared to this guy. In other news, the swim season starts on Thursday, which means teamwork, hard work, feelings of drowning, and the excitement of competition; oh, and even less time for anything else. But, never fear, there's always another philosophy class to write my next post.

The End is Near

Well, school has once again begun. But this year is a little different than the past 16 school years, because this year is the last year I will be an official student. In a short 9 months I will be standing with my classmates, diploma in hand, saying goodbye to 3 month vacations forever. Of course I could be heading into some time off longer than three months, but unemployment isn't really like vacation. This is a senioritis of a different brand. Three years ago, it was all about graduating and getting through the year quickly. Today, I walk around campus and sense a communal desire to make this last, to stretch these 9 months as far as they will go, to pack enough parties and plans for 10 years into the waning hours of our scholastic lives. Who can blame us? We are living the life; we've got sports to play and friends to see. All we have to do is plan around a few hours of classes. So with one year left, why not fully embrace the college lifestyle and enjoy every last minute I get before they hand me that diploma, my certificate to the real world. The end is near and just in time for my next beginning.