Nick - Oh Great, Another Post About College

Last week, I went over to the University of Illinois in Champaign for summer registration. And despite being extremely sleep deprived due to some poor decisions, I had a blast. And registration isn't something you generally have a blast doing; there's nothing fun about registering for courses or long power point presentations. But what's thrilling for me is all of the new experiences I'm going to have in college. The impact of all the change is just hitting me right now.

Usually when I bring up going away to college in conversation (or on this blog, for that matter) it's out of sadness. The thought of leaving all of my friends behind and starting fresh isn't a happy thought most of the time. But that's because I get hung up on the first part.

The "starting fresh" part is what's hitting me just now. During my registration I made a lot of new friends. "Friends" isn't really even the right word. But I struck up conversation with a lot of new people even though I didn't know anything about them. And I did this because I wanted to be the friendly, outgoing guy instead of the shy person who doesn't talk to anybody. I feel like it was a good decision.

Going into high school, I wouldn't talk to anybody I didn't already know. I probably wouldn't have known what to do if somebody I didn't know started talking to me. But I feel that I've grown a lot in these past four years, and I'm happy to report that the changes have been mostly positive. Not being shy means that I can strike up more fun and random conversations with people, and hopefully make more friends. And I think that makes for a brighter future.

Last week I talked about all the ways I felt I have failed to make friends here in my hometown, so it's great to get out to Champaign and see that I can do it. And it's great to know that when I get past the sadness of leaving the people I know, there's something to look forward to and enjoy.

I feel like a lot of you, and myself included, are probably are still trying to comprehend the thought of leaving. But I'm just now getting around to looking at arriving, and that softens the blow somewhat for me. I'm going to be able to come back to all my friends during summer; but I'll have a whole new set of friends that I get to look forward too returning to as well.

So I guess the point I want to make is this: leaving is sad, but don't let the leaving ruin the arrival. And don't let my third consecutive college-related post ruin your opinion of me. Next week I'll bring you something totally unrelated to college. And also I will try to whine about myself less. Seriously.

-Nick.

PS: Make it a priority to go see Toy Story 3 if you're leaving for college this year. You'll really enjoy it.