Catching Up

Today was already my second Friday at school. It's insane how fast my days go by here. If you were wondering I am absolutely loving school. I don't wake up and feel sick to my stomach, I don't dread seeing my roommate, and I don't count down the days til I come home. Instead I find something to do every single day. I find something to look forward to even on down days. Whether it's going to work out and run with Dave or just sitting in my room talking with Greg.

Greg's a great guy. (Greg is my roommate if you were wondering.) He's from close State College in what he calls "the sticks". It's his first semester here and actually his first semester anywhere. He was in basic training before starting this semester. I've hung out more with Greg this semester than I did with Richie all last semester.

So far my Pitt experience has been exactly what I thought college was supposed to be. I'm slowly meeting new people and I never feel alone. How could I with two of my best friends here? We start intramural soccer soon which is really exciting to someone who hasn't played an organized sport in months.

Classes aren't bad. Drugs and Behavior has a lot of biology stuff in it which worries me, but I guess it's mostly just memorization...need to get my hands on some notecards ASAP. That and Calc will probably be my two hardest classes.

Anyway, as for the title of the blog. After classes today I went and met Jordan, Anna, and Jordan's friend Alexis for dinner. We just ate at a little place on Forbes and went to get coffee afterwards. It was really nice seeing Anna and Jordan. I've known those girls for a long, long time and we've had our fair share of laughs over the years. They asked how school was and how my family was and how Ashley was. All of which are good. Anna goes to Clarion, which is more towards the cabin than it is towards home, but Jordan is only a quarter mile away at Carlow studying nursing.

We sat at Joe Mama's and talked for about an hour and a half. Our conversations included talks about college, memories from high school, and everything in between. Jordan and Anna haven't changed a bit. Still the best of friends who love to get after each other. They fight and love like sisters. It was nice seeing them and catching up.

You see, to me there isn't anything wrong with keeping friends from high school. There isn't anything wrong with keeping in touch and staying close to people you want to stay close with. There's nothing wrong with catching up but there might be something wrong with going back. Catching up and going back are totally different things. You can talk about high school without being pulled back into it, without longing to be back.

I can keep old friends but move forward, it isn't that hard, I've done it thus far. The coolest part about keeping old friends is that you can still make new ones. Done that too. Those new friends told me they're going to come visit. Kaitlin and Caroline promised they'd make a trip to Pittsburgh to see me and I told them I'd come see them at good old Fordham.

I've moved on from high school. I look back from time to time to reminisce and remember. People love tweeting this cliche saying, "The only time you should be looking back is to see how far you've come." I look back and see how far I've come but I also look back to learn. You can learn a lot from your past. It's quite possibly the best teacher you'll ever have. It's up to you to decide what to keep from your past. Keep only what makes you stronger, makes you a better person, and what makes you smile. The rest doesn't belong in your life.

Looking back  through this blog I see all the different songs I had playing to represent different people. Certain songs I wouldn't listen to because they reminded me of a time, or of a person, or of something that happened, but I'm realizing you don't have to skip over those songs. In fact, it's better to take a listen and find the words in it that you missed the first time. The lyrics that used represent something one thing can have a whole new meaning to you. It's a way of falling in love with a song you had lost all feelings for.

You can't just skip the things that have shaped you into who you are. You have to play them over and over again until you remember how you came to be you.

Like always I'm trying to be more philosophical than I actually am. Time to go do something else, like read for class. Sounds good to me.

Until next time.

NP: Sweet Nothing- Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch