And so this year draws to a close, and another approaches

I've done it. It's over. Finished. My Freshman year of college, which a mere 12 months ago seemed looming and monstrous, has officially come to a close. Finals are over, my papers are submitted. For the most part, my grades are pretty apparent: a couple of A's, a smattering of B's. As someone who struggles a bit to excel in the grades department, I'm pleased.

This year was difficult. I was living off-campus, a 20-minute commute everyday became my ritual. I often felt like an outsider, a strange visitor to a closed-off world of people who knew everybody else pretty damn well and found me to be strange. I was there most of the time; attending classes, studying in the library, hanging out with my girlfriend and her group of dorm-mates whom I adopted as friends. But it was hard, coming from a high school where I was pretty well known and felt accepted. I belonged, I had a tight niche' and I was enjoying the comfort of knowing your place in the world.

College, to say the least, was pretty jarring in this aspect. I was removed from my comfortable niche' (which I like to imagine as a big crack in the wall, stuffed with comfy satin pillows), slapped around a little with scholarships, applications, employment and financial trouble, and roughly distributed into college without so much as a "good luck."

But I'm happy I did it. I wouldn't say I've drastically changed for the better -- but I've learned a hell of a lot. I've come out of my shell a bit, broadened my horizons, met some cool people and become involved with a campus I hardly knew less than a year ago.

And here I am, 12 months later. I'm positioned to become the A&E Editor of my campus paper this coming year, which is both immensely exciting and overwhelmingly terrifying at the same time. But hey, at least I'll never have to tell people about their late-fees ever again. Rock on!

Anyway, the point is: I made it. It wasn't a straight-shoot and it certainly wasn't a turbulence-free ride, but damn it, I made it! And I'm pretty proud of myself, to say the least.