Year in Review: Personal

This is the first time I have really ever looked back at an entire year a personal level on and reflected on it, so bare with me if I happen to go on random tangents, forget things, or anything else that some may find to be ridiculous.

Spring semester had a lot of ups and certainly a lot of downs, but I feel that I did come out of it for the better. First thing that comes to mind is that I was able to do my first stand up and improv show for my comedy group. The first show after the “New Jacks” (it’s what we call people that just got into the group the entire semester until we have new New Jacks) they don’t perform, they are just introduced and then we had a sketch show. The sketch show was a ton of fun, but my main interest is improv, so when I was able to do improv at our first show that semester, I felt like I was really in the group at last. My comedy group, The Bureau, has been a huge influence on my college experience and I wouldn’t change it at all. I love being a part of it and I hope I can continue to contribute well until I have to graduate.

The next big thing was spring break, yea I know it’s cliché but it was a ton of fun and way more than just getting super drunk on a beach for a week. Ok, so admittedly I did go to a beach, but still. There were a bunch of brothers who decided to drive down to Panama City Beach and rent a condo for the week right on the beach, but we were around a mile from what we described as “douche beach”, you know, the beaches that you imagine where everyone is just running around crazy and drunk. The beach we were on still had plenty of people but it was so chill and we were still able to head over to “douche beach” if we wanted to. Anyway, back to the beginning. My car was me and 4 other people; 3 of which I knew but didn’t know great and wanted to get to know better because they were going to be graduating. Driving down should normally take around 15 hours or so, we did it in 23. We made weird stops and ended up going 8 hours out of the way for this barbecue restaurant we read about in Raleigh, North Carolina called The Pit. It was the best brisket I have ever had in my entire life, ever. Even better, that is NC State territory and we got there right after Maryland had beaten Duke in the ACC conference tournament so they were happy to see us and congratulated us. I will say though about the whole week, yea it was a fun spring break, but most importantly, I got to know some brothers really that I didn’t know that well beforehand and it was phenomenal.

I’m not sure if it’s sad or not, but those were the only 2 really significant things that are worth mentioning that I can remember from that semester.

Next was the summer where I was back at my camp for the 9^th time. It should have been my 10^th summer, the summer where you get an awesome fleece recognizing that you’ve been there for 10 years, but I took a summer off 2 years prior thinking I was done with camp, but it just calls you back there. This summer I taught an activity that I never even took as a camper, Outdoor Living Skill (OLS). The name sounds a lot cooler than what it actually is. It is mostly just outdoor cooking which is pretty cool, except for when the kids don’t want to make fires or when it is a brutally hot day and you are creating even more heat. While it was rough, I really liked the people I worked with and it was a fun summer. I also ended up meeting this girl who at the time, I didn’t think was going to be anything special, and by the end of camp, it wasn’t. In fact, we didn’t even talk much at all, but somehow through this semester we ended up talking and talking to the point where if a day goes by without hours of texts or a couple days without a long phone call, it is a surprise. We talk all the time, and she is absolutely amazing. She lives far away though, but visited Chicago over winter break for a weekend, and even for the day we were able to be together, it was absolutely incredible. It was as if everything was just easy with her, and now we are at the point of figuring out what exactly our relationship is and is going to be. All I know is that this girl is special, and is going to do amazing things in this world.

This past semester, well it was rough, and that is an understatement. My classes didn’t go well, I was getting sick at terrible times, and I had freak injuries. Nothing really went right this semester, and I am just glad it is over. Sadly, that’s really all I have to say about it. I did however get a little in my fraternity. It is actually kind of a funny tradition now. When I found out who my big was, I didn't really know him that well, and when I found out who my little was, he didn't know me too well either. Just a funny coincidence.

I am looking forward to this new year; I feel like it has a lot in store for me and will be really great. All we can do now is hope, do our best, and just see what comes to us.

To 2014, may it be great for us all, and let’s all be great.