College

I just decided to pop in for a bit and update since I don't do that nearly as much as I should...
College. That's where I'm headed here pretty soon. It's a grand prospect but I'm ready for it! I've been ready for about a year and a half now. Today pretty much solidified my impetuosity for college.
First I received my high school year book and found that only three traces of my existence in high school exist in that book: my senior yearbook picture, my band picture (with all 500+ other members in attendance), and the listing of my college followed by my solitary name beneath it. That's real impressive high school. What was most interesting about this yearbook was the fact that I am the only girl- with the exception of one Muslim girl who wore her Khimar- in the entire senior portrait portion who was not baring her bare shoulders. I was shocked because I thought that other girls who share my standards would wear something to cover their shoulders. I guess not. It's all good though, just pretty shocking.
Second was today marking my second to last day of work. It's a rather joyous occasion, kind of like Christmas Eve when you know that tomorrow your siblings and parents will open the gifts you got them and are anxious to see what they think! Or maybe the eve of Thanksgiving when you drink a lot of water so you can eat all day because you can and nobody can tell you not to! Anyway, I had a really really good job. I got to play with children ages six months to eleven years and I must say the light of Christ exists in those children! Especially the younger ones. I have gained patience, love, a better understanding of what parents have to deal with as well as an appreciation for them, greater self confidence, excellent friends, a two year old boyfriend, a seven and a half year old best friend, and I have realized that I can really make a difference in a child's life even if I only take care of them for an hour or two out of their day. You never really know how you can effect people's lives just by loving their children. There are really large windows in the area I work in and therefore people are literally always watching what's going on inside. I can make a difference for them too, and I apparently have! My favorite part of my job is when I get there and get so into the stuff I'm doing with the kids that the next time I look up it's almost time to close! That means I've had a really good day. So what if I've been punched, kicked, bled on, thrown up and spit up upon? So what if I've had to clean up excrement from the bathroom floor and been yelled at by a parent? It's all helped me grow and I can say I'm pretty experienced where children are concerned! I loved working with those kids! Even the not so pleasant ones!
Last was a profile picture on good old facebook. A grand time suck though it may be, it can also be kind of fun. I logged in and was looking at the news feed wall when I see that one of my friends changed his profile picture and it looked like he had bacon in his mouth or something. This was rather out of character for this particular friend so I ventured over to his profile to get a better look and lo and behold there was no bacon. Instead there was this spry looking man! My friend who left for college about one month ago already looks like he has experienced a whole new life and become a man! He is in Scotland for his military college and man-o-man does he look wonderful! I was initially jealous of him because he got to go to the United Kingdom for college, but now I jealous of him because he looks so good and has been off living the good college life... and he gets to go to the United Kingdom for college. I am so incredibly proud of him!
It's hard to put into words how pumped I am for my new life to begin. I've decided that I'm done being bitter about all the atrocities that have ensued in my time here in my hometown. I'm just done. It's much less work to just let things be. It really is just whatever, to use a slightly archaic and eccentric phrase. It's just whatever.
As the very wise Rafiki from "The Lion King" once said, "It doesn't matter, it's in the past... Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it."

I'm going to learn from it.