Reflections

My first year of college is almost over. This was the fastest school year I have ever experienced. While challenging and frustrating at times, I think I will remember the past few months as fun more than anything else. I have met so many amazing people--people that I hope I know for the rest of my life. I am not so naïve as to not know how things end up happening in life. Chances are that I will not always be as close with my college friends as I am right now. Heck, maybe by the end of the four years these same friendships will have changed, for better or for worse, in ways I cannot imagine right now. No matter what though, I do not want to lose contact. These are people I hope I know for life in some way or another. I think it will be interesting over the next few years to see how each of our lives develop. I love that at Hillsdale the students are from all over the country. I am looking forward to having someone to visit no matter where I travel after graduation.

My goal for this semester was to better manage my time. I did not do badly with that first semester at all, but I felt there were improvements to be made. For the most part, I think I’ve succeeded. I’ve never gone to bed with homework for the next day still hanging over me. If I’ve had extra time, I’ve used it to get ahead in homework for later in the week. I’ve always felt prepared to the best of my ability for each exam/quiz/test I have taken this semester. Papers have been written with relatively little stress, though that doesn’t mean they were easy.

Socially, this semester has been different. First semester was spent meeting people and then finding out exactly who they were. Now I know who everyone is, who my friends are, who I can count on. I am not one of those people that restricts myself to one “group” of friends. I spend time with multiple “groups” and there are people in each one that I consider close friends. There are a few girls that I have become closer to than others, and that means the world to me. I do spend a lot of time with them, so it can be challenging at times to make sure I don’t neglect my other friends. I think I have done all right though, and the fact that I have to put more effort into some of these friendships hopefully means that they have a greater chance of continuing. I will not be the one who stops trying first, of that I assure you.

I do not get stressed easily. I believe that people who are less stressed live longer. That’s something I’d like to do. That doesn’t mean that I don’t get overwhelmed or have difficult assignments or experiences, in school or in life. This attitude has caused me to, in the past, be accused of being Pollyanna-ish. Then there were those who just assumed I didn’t have as many problems as them. But I have always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. God does everything for a reason and we cannot possibly understand everything--we aren’t supposed to. Life is a lot more interesting when you are positive about it. Pessimists think they are being realistic, but when I look around the world, sure there is bad, but there is also a heck of a lot of good. When something bad happens, what can you do but go on? I realized a long time ago that that is the only real option, so why not embrace it.

On October 26, 2005, something happened that I did not expect to happen this early in my life, if ever. The Chicago White Sox won the World Series, ending 88 years of mediocrity. No summary of the past few months would be complete without mentioning this, since that team is very much a part of who I am. I have been shaped by a variety of influences--my faith, my family, my friends, my history professor, and yes…the White Sox. There is little doubt as to this. Most people probably do not realize it, but Sox fans have a certain outlook on things, a certain attitude. I have it most definitely.

Looking ahead to next year, it is both exciting and intimidating. Exciting because I will get to room with one of the people here that I really connect with. Exciting because I will hopefully be living in the same dorm as some of my friends who I don’t get to see as often right now. Exciting because I’ll be a sophomore and know what everything is and how everything works. Exciting because I’ll finally be starting on my major. It is intimidating because it will be different. Intimidating because, while I’ll get to see other people more often, will that mean that some of the people I see all the time now be around less often? Intimidating because I am taking five classes, three of them heavy-reading classes. Intimidating because I’ll be one year closer to graduation.

Later...