Back to School

It's good to be back. One week of classes are done and orientation week is over and so far, I'm loving it. Sure, there haven't been any "unforgetable nights" yet but it's just great to be back hanging out with my friends. I had a ton of fun during orientation week although it was pretty much a 24/7 job. I've met a ton of cool freshmen that I can't wait to get to know better as well. Sure, I'm ready for the year to pick up and for tennis to start but overall, I'm a happy JR.

Reflecting on Summer

So in about 60 hours or so I will be packing up all my belongings and embarking and the half-day journey back to Coe College. When the year ended, I reflected upon it and when the school year ended, I also reflected upon it (though I don't know if I did online). It's only fitting that I reflect upon my summer as well. This summer definitely fits my whole "life goes in waves" theme. When I first came home, the first few days were a whirlwind of social activities and reconnecting with friends before life settled down. Then I started to get into a bit of a rut until work started. For the whole summer, the pace seemed to go up and down. I feel to some extend I wasted this summer. Although I did make a solid amount of money, it was very alarming today when I paid my parents my portion of the semester and for this years fraternity dues to realize that I only netted about 125 dollars total this summer. Thankfully I have some work at school which will easily get me through the year. In some ways, I didn't reconnect the way I wanted to. There were some people I was around a lot in high school and I was hoping that I would not only reconnect but deepen our relationships. For the most part, this did not happen. The people I was casually friends with were definitely invisible. However, there were a few people this summer I got to spend a good amount of time with that I'm more thankful for than I think they know. It was very reassuring to me that I could come home and not only reconnect quickly but get to know people on a deeper level of trust than I did previously. Hopefully I will be able to stay in touch frequently with them while away at school. One of my biggest fears all year of college was actually leaving college fearing that I had little to go back to. This summer helps sooth my mind realizing that when the day comes in the distant future and I leave college, I can still stay close with the people that really matter to me. Goodbye summer 2009......hello Coe

Next week.......

I will be back at school. Exactly one week from today I will be driving to Cedar Rapids. Summer was fun, seeing all my friends again and getting closer to some but I'm excited to go back to a fast pace, sleep only when you drop, environment for awhile. By October fall break, I'm sure i'll be exhausted but right now I'm excited.

Spammers

So apparently my blog was spamming and was temporarily deleted. It was kind of funny actually. But it's fixed now. Good work.

Summer Living

So summer is a very interesting time for a college student. For me, college is 5 hours away and none of my friends are from closer than 45 minutes away and there are probably only 2 or 3 that are that close right now. So for socializing, I'm stuck trying to fit in time with the people I still talk to but often fail to get ahold of them and end up in awkward social situations with people you don't really like. Take for instance grad parties today. I trotted around for about an hour with a group of people that honestly neglected me in high school. Why did I continue to trot around with them? Who knows. But let me tell you, it was a little awkward. Anyway, I lost badly to a 45 year old in tennis this morning. Apparently he's actually really legit (top ten in the nation for his age) but I still kind of felt like a piece of shit. Whatever it's cool. I start working significantly more Monday and man I'm excited. Not necessarily for the money, but I miss having my schedule somewhat decided for me. It makes me actually do the things I want to because I don't have all day available. Also, some of the little tennis kids are adorable and very funny. If anyone actually reads this, call me up! Summer's starting to get a little bored and if you care enough to read my blog, you must like me.

Waves

Its kind of funny to watch your life kind of go in waves. School is a great example. School work always tends to escalate the week where you're busy one more night than usual and you have to leave for the weekend for one reason or another. Summer is very similar. Sometimes there are more people calling me to do things than I could possibly fit in and still get work done. Other times, such as these last couple of days, I haven't heard from anyone, and I really don't have anything else to occupy my time. It's kind of bizzare. I am enjoying summer however. As much as I miss people at Coe, the 612 is a nicer place than Cedar Rapids and its a good change being able to sleep a full 7 to 8 hours each night. However, I need to figure out how to make money. God damn economy. I should probably get on that right away.

Potentials

So today, my friend Dusty Boyer won the Minnesota State high school league AA tennis championship. the boy has worked hard all year and out of all the good tennis players i know, he is probably the least arrogant. i went with a couple of my friends from my tennis club to go watch and were pleased to see our old teaching pros that we had in high school were there to support one of their players. before the final after watching dusty win his semifinal match, one of them told me something that was somewhat upsetting. well maybe upsetting isnt the word but it made me thing. what he said was "this could have been you jon". when i think about it, it definitely could have been. I'm a hard worker, talented, smart, composed, and very dedicated to the things i do so last year, it very well could be. in fact, it probably should have been. but in reality, not only did i not win state but i didnt even make it there. sure i was sick a lot during the season and i had trouble with my shoulder. honestly i kind of chocked it away. although this is probably not a big part of the problem, its unsettling to think about. what if i was afraid to reach my true potential? was i afraid to put myself out there and lose just before the final. if this is a problem with me, not that i think it was at all, its impact will go far far beyond the tennis court. if anyone were ever afraid to reach their true potential, then they'll likely never even reach the modest goals they set for themselves for fear of having to push themselves farther.

Nadal Losing

For most people, they don't quite understand what happend today. Rafael Nadal, who was thought to be unbeatable on clay, lost to a relatively unknown player. Most people would take this as a lesson teaching young children that "Anything is possible!". The way I look at it is different. In reality, Nadal had to lose eventually. Unless he retired beforehand which may be 10 years from now, he eventually had to lose at the French Open. What I take out of it is that things will happen at completely unexpected times. Personally I wanted Nadal to lose so Federer can win the French Open. My point is that you may have to wait a long time for something wonderful to happen or for a chance of a lifetime, but when opportunity strikes, you have to be ready to capitalize on that chance. It's a lesson I myself need to learn as much as anybody else.

Impact

So I've always wondered if I would ever be remembered. Usually when people graduate high school they leave and in a few years nobody remembers them. I put a lot of work into a lot of things in high school but I always wondered if it would mean anything. In 7th grade, our tennis program was a complete joke and although I had a lot of help from some parents and community members, I spearheaded the student effort to make it decent and the program went from 2 wins my 7th grade year to 12 my senior year along with 3 all-conference players. I assumed that after my senior year and the 4 other seniors left the team that the program would be horrible again. Well, I was wrong. The team went 7 and 7 and each players had an individual record around .500. When I came back to watch a match, all the younger kids acted as if Santa had showed up and parents I had never met before came up to talk to me. One boy I swear I had never seen before not only knew my name but had my shoes and walked around the court with the same mannerism as me. I made a joke about it to my friend Libby and she replied that the kid probably looks up to me. I laughed but then I started to think. The things I do really do have a big impact. The same thing was similar with band to a far lesser extent. Many of the younger kids who drove me nuts in Patriots sectional all added my on facebook and have messaged me several times. Maybe too many times. Although when I come back to high school I may be forgotten whenever there's a party or other social gathering, at least I'm remembered for things that I really care about.

Freshmen year

It's hard to believe freshmen year is already over. When I was moving all my stuff out of my room, I remembered the beginning of the year when I moved everything into my old room and how it seemed like it had just happend last week. My parents were there, the weather was warm, and we had to carry everything up and down several flights of stairs. I feel like I grew a lot my first year of college. I didn't learn as many things in the class room as I expected, but I learned far more than I ever thought I could outside of the classroom. In high school, especially the early years of high school, my people skills were lacking to the say the least. I rarely talked and when I didn't I often inadvertently offended someone. Although I still have work to do, I'm now comfortable in nearly all social situations and usually don't offend people as often anymore. The last weekend of tennis was crazy. Losing 5-4 in a 5 hour match with Luther and all I can say is those guys are assholes. Thankfully, I beat 4 of them in the next 2 days while winning the conference tournament. I will try to blog more often but no promises. I know so many people read these......