Alma Mater

I often wonder how to revive a stagnant blog, or whether to revive it at all. Perhaps this stems from my reluctance to fall under some cliche. Like obscure bloggers who apologize to "all" their readers for some leave of absence. Whatever the case, jumping back into blogging is like trying to resurrect Pogs. Perhaps I will once again find the pleasure in those magical cardboard circles. Or maybe I'll remember why I drifted away in the first place.

This has quite possibly been the first time in my life that I did not more distinctly realize the transition from Summer into Fall. I might blame this confusing weather for that. But the true culprit I believe is my absence from school. For the past 16 years I have spent each Fall resuming my life as a student. And although each Fall begins with the fresh excitement that a new school year brings, each Spring brings the longing to be done with school for the Summer. For ever. Summer begins and you tell yourself you'll never put yourself through the torture of another semester.

But I graduated, and now it's Fall, and I most certainly miss school. Last May, as the buzz of graduation grew louder and I anticipated my new life to come I thought I could never again miss the dread of 8 a.m. classes or the headache of mounds of homework or that ever-pressing list of thing to do... that never gets any shorter! And yet, as I scroll through my Facebook news feed and catch up on all the latest whereabouts and adventures of current students, it's almost depressing. I miss the friendships. I miss the feeling of checking something off the never-ending to-do list. I miss the late night runs to In-N-Out or Boba. I miss the studious feeling of a backpack on my shoulder. I miss meals in the cafeteria. And most of all, I miss my roommates. I terribly miss the TV shows we watched together and the plans we made together and the tears we shared together... and even Rachel's stupid, stupid phone alarms (which I heroically endured for 2 years).

I miss all of this more than I ever imagined. Jordan said he went through this the first semester or two after he graduated. And at least I'm fortunate to still be in the same state as all my college friends! He has assured me though that it will get easier as time goes on. I hope he's right. Or he might be funding a few more years of college tuition.