Life Happens Fast

Today, I got to be incredibly proud of two of the greatest girls I've had the pleasure of knowing. Lori and Emily have been my freshmen since their first day of school when I was a junior. I was there to give them advice on what teachers were good, what teachers were bad, and even to provide my notebooks as a handy study guide when needed, and they in turn adopted freshmen when I left, continuing the cycle on. Both girls are talented and incredibly sweet, and I'm sure that they'll go on to do awesome things.

The event was bittersweet for me, taking me back two years to my own commencement, which is one of my fondest memories and marks the turning point of the route that my life has taken. I went to South America three weeks after I graduated, which was undoubtedly the most life-altering experience that I've ever had. I can't believe it's already been two years. What the grown-ups said was true. Time really does fly.

I'm looking in the future toward the events that the coming twelve months hold for me. I'll be graduating from Gateway with my associate's in Education and transferring to Liberty University for a degree in Crisis Counseling. The current plan is to relocate to St.Louis semi-permanently after graduation, getting an apartment in the city and starting my journey into the dreaded "real world". Somehow, within the past two years, I think I became one of those grown-ups myself. Gross.

And somehow, all of this grown-up stuff is still an incredible reminder that my life purpose is far from being fulfilled. I mean, on one hand I guess that's a good thing, because once it is "fulfilled" per se, I'll probably be dead and stuff. But on the other hand, I have little moments like tonight, when I got randomly asked if my summer was going to be spent in South America. Answering the question with a no was, to be quite honest, positively heartbreaking. I think I left a little piece of my heart in Asuncion, and it's a piece I need and fully plan to get back.

But for now, maybe I just need to treasure the next two years and the experiences awaiting me therein. And the two after that. And the two after that. Because it all goes by unbelievably fast.