Sophomore Year

A few days ago I finished my sophomore year at the University of Pittsburgh. That means I am halfway done with my college career. That fact is one that both intrigues me and scares the living hell out of me. I'm eager to see what the world has in store for me (or rather what I have in store for it), but at the same time I've become so infatuated and at peace in the microcosm that is Oakland. This year was the first year when I would come back from school and be uncertain whether I was returning home or leaving it.

I guess I'm lucky in that sense. Some people never feel that comfortable at school or where they were raised. I guess I have to attribute that to the people I've been surrounded by for my whole life. While perusing various social media sites I'll stumble across various posts or tweets or comments that bash the same place I grew up in. I mean, I get it, the Oakdale/Imperial area isn't exactly the most luxurious place to grow up in. With that being said I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Because if I traded away this place I grew up in, I would be trading away the biggest parts of myself. I owe 95% of who I am today to the people and places within a 10 mile radius of my house.

It isn't glamorous, but it's where I'm from and it's who I am.

And honestly, the kids I see complaining about wanting to get out are the same ones who never do. And for the most part, they're the same kids who think that this town and this school district are holding them back. When in reality they're being afforded every opportunity needed to succeed.

I can say that with 100% certainty because I know that if I fail it won't be because of where I'm from, it'll be because of me.

Luckily, I don't plan on failing.

With all that being said this school year was a great one. I joined two great organizations and met an absurd amount of new people. In a matter of eight months I came in contact with and fell out of touch with dozens of people. I made some new best friends and had some run ins with people I'm not particularly fond of.

I've come to realize that it isn't about how many new contacts you put in your phone, rather it's about the numbers, names, and faces that pop up every day. You know, the names that just can't seem to get rid of in your messages list or your call log. Those are the people that matter. Those are the ones worth a damn.

I think college is as much about grades and learning as it is finding people you give a damn about. Not so much in the sense that you need people to keep you company, but that you need to find something or someone to care about. The fact of the matter is that I'll never care about my academics or my job as much as I care about people. (I think that's pretty intuitive and universally agreed upon, but maybe my redundancy is actually necessary.) So like I said, academics don't carry as much weight as my personal interactions. While it's all well and good to write an A+ paper, it'll always be more rewarding to have a good conversation with a close friend. And taking a chance on a date with a pretty girl will always be more worth it than an extra hour of studying.

That's because when it comes down to it, years from now, what am I going to remember? Will it be the two questions I missed on a psych exam or the polaroid my best friends and I took at a hockey game? I'll soon forget how tired I was on any given Saturday, but what I won't forget are the memories made on my roof the night before.

Nobody reminisces about college and says, "Boy do I wish I slept more." It just doesn't happen like that.

I'm also slowly realizing that it's better to overreact than to come across as apathetic. They don't write books about people who barely care. They write books about the people who gave a shit. The best books are the ones about people who didn't bite their tongue.

The people who spoke out, spoke loudest, and spoke intelligently are the ones who get remembered.

Which means it's better to say what's on your mind than to assume somebody knows it.

If nothing else I like to think I spoke my mind this year. I like to think my words reached more ears than ever before, and I can only hope that they were properly received. Admittedly I'm not as poetic and coherent as I think I am, but maybe, just maybe, I manage to put together something with a little substance from time to time.

With another year in the books (no pun intended) I find myself incessantly checking my term grades, looking for final grades to be posted. But like I said earlier, I'm learning that more and more these grades mean less to me. My boss isn't going to be as concerned with my GPA as he is with both my ability to communicate and my previous experiences. Textbooks don't give you experience. Textbooks give you declarative knowledge but life gives you procedural knowledge. And 9 times out of 10 procedural knowledge will be worth more.

Enough about this schooling mumbo jumbo for now, though.

I just want to thank everyone from this past school year who played a part in making it what it was.

I won't be forgetting any of the memories or friends that I've made this year.

NP: Ho Hey- The Lumineers