This is a Black Market Reformation

So, this semester is drawing to a close. My time here at college is coming to an end. It's finally time to finish looking at the past and do my best to work towards the future. Looking back, I've met some great friends and have many brothers with whom I will always stay connected. Academically, it's been average; freshman and sophomore year were taken seriously. This last year...not so much. The things I've experienced have ranged from the absolute best times of my life to the absolute worst times of my life. But these are the best and the worst so far; I look to make many more memories, good and bad, in the future.

Some of the best memories so far I have shared with many great friends. There were many awkward moments in first learning who we all were. These moments transitioned into regular hang outs, nightly door-knocking, and more jokes and laughter than I can recount. Throughout this, we've seen each other find and lose love, make good choices and bad mistakes, stood shoulder to shoulder and took turns at leading the group in new adventures.

Some of the worst memories so far have changed me. Friends suffered death in their families. Friends themselves have perished. I have gone head-to-head against friends, and they to me. I have discovered the darker side of myself and what I am capable of doing, both to myself and to others.

In all of this, I have opened up and allowed myself to learn. Every situation, good and bad, has a lesson to be taught; it only need be found. In my three years spent here, I feel that I have learned more than I ever could from school. My Taoist-based philosophy has come full-circle and I have embraced the balance of life. I have come to have a greater understanding of myself and my place in the world, rather than viewing the world around me and how it should fit to me.

Knowing this, I no longer have any anxiety for the future. My path is no longer shaped by the world, but rather by myself, taking the role I believe I am to play.

As the band Guster puts it:

So long, so long, front foot leads the back one.

Go on, and it won't be too soon.

I'm gone, I'm gone, and onto the next one.

So long, and I won't be back soon.

~Nick