Lessons Learned This Semester...

1. Priorities are important.

This semester started out on a stressful note, with recruitment, no sleep, the lovely ticket on the way to Houston, and so many unanswered questions. I could have let this take over, and I did for awhile, but I was constantly upset. So I let it go. Honestly, questions don't answer themselves any faster if you stress about it.  

I also had to sit down and think about what mattered. Life is not a guarantee, its a gift. If tomorrow isn't promised, what do I need to get done today? If today is the last time I see one of my friends, what is it that I will always wish I had done with them?

2. Laughing is important.

Honestly, I don't think I have laughed this much ever. Except maybe freshman year with the ROTC guys, and I should post those videos on youtube so EVERYONE can see the insane stuff that went on in 3309. But seriously, being able to laugh at yourself is important. Sleeping through class is not the end of the world, laugh it off. Neither is slipping down the stairs of a building in front of all your friends... oh wait, that was last year, and I can just now laugh about that! :) But I mean, so what that everyone is judging you for watching TV through the window during a fire... if it makes ya laugh (and is reasonably safe!) why not? Girls nights out will always be the best memories... so will hanging out with random friends you would have normally never done something with outside of school.

3. Let things go.

For those of you who have never had more than a very casual conversation with me, I have had 13 majors in 3 years. Now, mostly I laugh about this, I realize thats insane. But I have always wanted to do a million things with my life, and would plan and plan and plan on how to do everything. But this semester I just kind of... dropped it. All of it. I let go, and let God. And yes, my life is taking a completely different direction now. But I am so excited about it, and I am so much at peace. I know it doesn't make sense to a lot of people why I would want to do this, but I know that this is my dream, and I have found my passion, and I am going for it.

4. Live BIG. 

I feel I can't start this one without borrowing some words from Kyle Lake. Kyle was a young pastor at a church around here who was electrocuted while getting ready to baptize someone my freshman year of college. These were his sermon notes for that day:

Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old’s nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.
If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift."

These words are on my bulletin board above my desk, and I look at them often. When I think of the way Kate lived, I think a lot about what Kyle said here. That is the kind of life I want to live, the kind I hope I live everyday.

5. The most random people can change your life.

I looked around the table at dinner tonight, and it made me smile. To my right was a guy that has been my friend since about the first week of college, and has honestly been through everything with me. Next to him was a guy that I have had a few classes with, but only just started to hang out with. Then there was one of my little freshman that I love... this kid calls me all the time with the most random things, but I love her to death and she always makes me laugh. And then another girlfriend to my left, who is just so loud and fun and has never met a stranger. It was just such a good picture of the friends I have right now... I would say honestly of the 3 people I talk to the most, one I met freshman year, one I got close to the end of sophomore year, and the other I met this year. They are all SO different, but they all make me laugh and bring out the best in me (most of the time!!!!) Honestly, I'm not sure what made me talk to any of them, or made any of them talk to me. But through random occurrences, they are my favorite people.

6. Embrace your inner nerd.

Its ok to be smart, and its ok to act smart. Now, based on some grades, I am sure I have some profs who might question my intelligence about now. And I don't think I would blame them really. But for the first time, I don't feel shy about knowing something. I have this thirst for knowledge (not all knowledge, only marketing knowledge, and only when I have slept!) and I just want to learn more and more. Which is part of the reasoning behind grad school. 

There are a few more. I may come back and add more. Or I may not. But these were all important.