one month...

the following is something that i received in an email from one of those friends that you love dearly, but don't see very often at all, and ya... wow.. these thoughts were from HER friend.. so this is one of those "friend of a friend, friend" things.. but this girl put into words some of the thoughts in my head, and ya, i like it..


Remember your very first day of university when you said good-bye to your parents? You saw them cry and maybe you cried, too. As they left, you thought about how different their lives were about to become without you at home and now that you were far away from home. Some of you were terrified and were so close to saying "take me home, I don't want to be here anymore". But some of you were excited and knew it would all be okay.

Those first few days of university, you met some people. You discovered what a small world it really was. And you finally began to realize that this whole university thing was going to be pretty cool. Do you remember sleeping in your bed at university for the first time and thinking how long it would be until the year ended? It seems like yesterday that that happened. Your first classes seemed cool and you were so determined to get all A's. (Yeah, like that was going to happen!) Once you finally got settled, you found out so many things -- who your real friends were back at home. How there are only a few…but for some reason, that's okay.

After your first million-dollar phone bill, you weren't too homesick anymore. But, you'd salivate at the thought of your mom's cooking at home. You missed your bed and a clean shower, and a bath was close to heaven. But even though you missed these things, you kinda didn't want to leave college. The friends you met at university you became very close to. You discovered things about yourself and about other people. You felt comfortable around these friends -- and it was really hard to believe that you only knew them for a few months.

You learn that you really can take a crap in the bathroom because everyone else does too. You discover what it really feels like to NOT sleep one night because you have to type a paper (that you didn't begin until midnight anyway). You make your own choices.... should you go to class today.... nah. Should I drink tonight even though I have class at 8 am? Sure, why not? You learn about love. You fall in love. You fall out of love. You get screwed over but you get over it. You know that love is waiting for you down the road. You know that you have to live it up in meantime.

You learn to look at people differently; you spot genuineness easier than you did before. You read people better. You know what you like to look for in people and if they turn out to be different than expected, it's okay. You gained a sense of respect and learned what trust really meant...Maybe you learned to trust yourself and how important that is. We all grew up during this first year of university. It's amazing that it was in such a
short amount of time. And to think--each year from now on will go even quicker. Live your life to the fullest. And count your blessings along the way.

One month left...

A year has past and now we stand on the brink of returning to a world where we are surrounded by the paradox of everything and yet nothing being the same. In one month, we will reluctantly give our hugs and, fighting the tears, say goodbye to people who were once just names on a sheet of paper to return to people that we hugged and fought tears to say goodbye to before we ever left.

We will leave our best friends to return to our best friends. We will go back to the places we came from and go back to the same things we did last summer and every summer before. We will come into town on that same familiar road, and even though it has been months, it will seem like only yesterday. As you walk into your old bedroom, every emotion will pass through you as you reflect on the way your life has changed and the person you have become. You suddenly realize that the things that were most important to you a year ago don't seem to matter so much anymore, and the things you hold highest now, no one at home will completely understand.

Who will you call first? What will you do your first weekend home with your friends? Where are you going to work? Who will be at the party Saturday night? What has everyone been up to in the past few months? Who from school will you keep in touch with? How long before you actually start missing people barging in without calling or knocking? Who will get breadsticks at three in the morning with you now? How long until you adjust to sleeping alone in a room again?

Then you start to realize how much things have changed, and you realize the hardest part of university is balancing the two completely different worlds you now live in, trying desperately to hold on to everything all the while trying to figure out what you have to leave behind. In the matter of one day's traveling time, we will leave our world of living next door to our best friends, walking across campus to eat, instant messenger, 8:30 classes, and perpetual procrastination to a world that will seem foreign to us despite the fact that we lived in it for eighteen years. But it is different now.

We now know the meaning of true friendship. We know whom we have kept in touch with over the past year and who we hold dearest to our hearts. We've left our high school worlds to deal with the real world. We've had our hearts broken, we’ve fallen in love, and we’ve helped our best friends overcome eating disorders, depression, stress, and death. We've given blood to help a fellow student fight leukemia. We've lit candles at the grotto and we’ve stayed up all night on the phone just to talk to a friend in need. There have been times when we've felt so helpless being hours away from home when we know our families or friends needed us the most, and there are times when we know we have made a difference.

One month from now, we will leave. One month from now, we take down our pictures, and pack up our clothes. No more going next door to do nothing for hours on end. We will leave our friends whose random emails and phone calls will bring us laughter and tears this summer. We will take our memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world. One month from now, we will arrive. One month from now, we will unpack our bags and have dinner with our families. We will drive over to our best friend's house and do nothing for hours on end. We will return to the same friends whose random emails and phone calls have brought us laughter and tears over the year. We will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away for the past year.

In one month, we will dig deep inside to find the strength and conviction to adjust to change and still keep each other close. And somehow, in some way, we will find our place between these two worlds.

In one month...

Are you ready?

(ahhh.. i don't know!... we'll soon find out... evz)