Life

Well that's it. My first semester at Metro is done. And as I look back and compare a semester at Marquette versus Metro, I realize that I finally found somewhere I'm comfortable, where I fit. I was a fish out of water at Marquette. And its something you don't really realize until you leave. I was trying so hard to please and fit in there that I was exhausted and tired all the time. I went and visited on my birthday weekend and it was a lot of fun, but I also realized a lot of things while there. Marquette is a bubble. I had no idea what the real world had in store for me until I left. And as hard I tried to keep the friendships I made there intact, the distance does its damage. People changed. I changed. People you thought would be there forever suddenly aren't. Best friends become once in awhile friends and friends become acquaintances. Its sad, but you really find out who your real friends are when you leave. No one likes change, and this change was especially hard for me. The fall was a lot of forced smiles and pretending to be happy about the situation. Then school started and I was succeeding and meeting people and it all started to turn around. The smiles aren't forced anymore. I get excited when I get to go to school. I don't "have" to go to class anymore. I "get" to go to class. And what made it truly special was being able to pay for it all on my own. Sure I'm getting free rent and food, but paying that last tuition bill was so satisfying. Marquette has become a period of my life that I'll look back on and smile when I think about the good times. But I'm not longing for it anymore. I want to see more in my college years than Marquette could have offered me. I get to learn how to shoot a gun in 6 months, and taser someone and offensive driving and all these cool things that Marquette couldn't offer me. I'm going to go into future interviews with more than just a fancy name behind me, I'm going in with skills. And what's even better is that I'm going to graduate with less debt than 99% of the people at Marquette. I'm happy, and I couldn't say that five months ago. I got straight A's this semester. The first 4.0 of my entire schooling career. That has to say something. I don't know exactly what, but I'm pretty darn proud of it.

Wednesday's are going to bring a little something extra to you from Life At Its Finest. I want you to get something from this blog. To read and say, "Wow" just ever once in awhile. Wednesday's are going to be "Must Do" days. I am going to suggest something, whether it be a concert, an event, a hike, a choice, whatever, its something I want you to do. It just depends on what mood I'm in on that specific day. Today, I want you to make a decision. It doesn't have to be big or grandiose like changing your entire life in a week and moving home and changing schools. But what I do want you to do is look at your life up until this exact moment in time. What stands out? What would you rather forget? Are you happy? If not, why? Because you should be. Your "Must Do" of the day is just to reflect. Write it all down, share it with someone, keep it to yourself, I don't care. Just do. Maybe you'll realize something that you didn't before and you want to do something about it. Who knows, you may just make the best decision of your life because of it.