Sophomore Year

So, I knew that I was not going to be able to reflect on just how incredible this year has been until I overcame the little baby depression I went into the second I left JCU for the summer. So much has happened in the last year. More than I could have ever imagined. More than I could have ever hoped for or even planned. I learned that I had to be patient and that God was not going to let me plan for anything. So here we go. 

Move in day: Brianna met me at my car and began to help me unload my car. She brought this ROTC guy she had come to know, Steve Lutter. As I began to set up things in my room, I started to get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was not ready to start another year. I had no idea what the next nine months would hold for me and I was scared. But Brianna's sunny disposition and friendly personality put me a little more at ease. 

The next few months progressed and I met her group of friends and slowly became integrated into the group. I was even initiated thanks to Graham. These people began to become my second family. I started to realize why people came to love JCU so much. I started writing for The Carroll News and found out that there was a group on campus where I could grow and succeed. 

The relationship between me and Zak began to slowly deteriorate. We never really talked and I was beginning to feel very very disconnected in my relationship with him. I knew when I went home for Lizzie's band invitational that Zak and I were over. We broke up that night, over skype. I was sad about it, but not that sad. I had apparently promised him that he could still come to homecoming with me...I fought against that initially. Everyone in the newsroom told me to not go with him....I didn't listen. We got back together. Little did I know that I was slowly falling out of love with Zak and into love with someone else. 

The year continued. More fights, tears, and fake smiles. I began to see Dan as my confidant. It was so easy to talk to him. I kept falling more in love with my school, my friends, and my life at JCU. I was promoted to the role of assistant campus editor. I began to discover my love of writing. I started to express myself through poetry and I kept falling more in love. 

There were many nights with my friends. Nights where we learned a lot about each other. Fent, 10 fingers, mating calls, technique!, initiation, tween runs, and much more. Then there came St. Patrick's Day. 

Emily had broken up with her boyfriend and I had decided that it was time for me to do so as well. So I spent the entire day with my girls. Laughing, freezing at the parade and then my 10 pm mass I was convinced it was all over. 

I sat down in the student union office with Brianna and I did it. I broke up with him. I felt free it was incredible. And then the new chapter started. Dan and I started hanging out and then dating. It was literally magical. I fell hard and fast even though I knew that it had to end. But for the time we were all just happy living in our little bubble of perpetual happiness that is JCU. 

These two people make me so incredibly happy and there is literally nothing that they could do that would make me love them any less. I had almost forgotten what true happiness felt like and I was so pleasantly surprised to find that I had finally discovered it at Carroll. 

Then there is this group of incredibly talented and crazy people. They showed me the value of hard work and how even though something can make you want to tear your hair out and give up, you will still do it until the wee hours of the morning to make sure you put of a phenomenal paper each week. Lots of deadline nights, terrible Guys pizza and various newsroom shenanigans happened with these wonderful people and I can't wait for next year. 

Then there are these people. My loves and my best friends. Even though Mike and Tim are not in this picture, you all made this year incredible. We gel so well with each other because we are all equally insane and quirky. People who look at our friend group are probably insanely jealous because they are not as close as we are. Long live Kappa Fappa Beta! Much love crazies! 

And this guy. The guy who helped me with my crazy plan for the end of the year. May 10th 1 a.m. a night that will live in infamy. Tim, with Bri we are going to rule this school in the next two years. We are going to be the most epic power trio that the world has ever known. Here is to many more fun nights and Starbucks runs. 

And then there is this guy. I did not think it was possible to have such a wonderful time in such a short amount of time. In less than two months you were able to teach me so much. I even got to brag about how I was dating someone famous. I know that we are no longer together, but I will always be here for you. I promise, if you still want me to, to keep you sane while you are in DC next year. You are an incredibly talented and driven individual and I know that you are going to do great things. So plunge in head first and do not be afraid, but remember that you are always going to be Batdan no matter how famous or important you get. Good luck at NBC and Meet the Press Dan. You are going to do great things, I know it. 

Finally, there is this girl. She had been my other half for this entire year and I do not know what I would do without her love and support. She listens to my ridiculous hopeless romantic musings and make sure that I keep my idealism. Our friendship is something that I am not sure is of this world, it is something that could have only been created by God and I thank him everyday for this beautiful light in my life. Love you Bri, so excited to see what the future has in store for us. 

This year has been amazing and I think that this sums it up perfectly.