New Beginnings

After about a month of reading blogs, I finally decided that I'd start writing one. I figured if I was writing in a journal, writing a book, and writing to family anyways, I could maybe get most of it accomplished in one place, and maybe get some feedback on it anyways. So, here it is. Welcome to my humble blog.

It's the middle of August, and for the past 19 years of my life, that's meant one thing: the beginning of the school year. It's been that way since I was five, and will be for at least the next four years of my life. Even though I have pretty much always loved school, I have always hated leaving the fun freedom of summer (with the exception of maybe first grade, which would have been the one year that going "back" to school was new and exciting). It's not that I disliked what I was going into, it was that I knew that I would have to leave something behind. My treehouse was still there, the rope swing was still hanging over the river, and our forts were just as welcoming in August as they were in June, but I had to leave them behind, put on shoes (not even just flop flops, but SHOES), and head to school with a new set of pencils and folders and hundreds of sheets of looseleaf notebook paper. I hated that the limitless world I had carefully constructed during the summer months had to be put aside for the structure of the educational system. I knew that if I hadn't been made to sit in a classroom all day, I could have been having a lot more fun. I also knew that if I was out in the woods while my friends were in school, I'd still miss out. It's always been one of life's difficulties for me: I cannot stand to miss out on anything, and I've spent a good part of my life trying to figure out how to cram as much fun and excitement into my life as I can in the time I've got (aka, try not to miss out on ANYTHING at anytime). If I was off on my own adventure during the summer, I would wish that my friends were there with me to enjoy it, but when I was hanging out with friends during the year, I would look up at my pictures on the wall and wish that I was off climbing in the mountains. I absolutely love new beginnings, and absolutely loath endings, and so for most of my academic career I've gone about the first few days of classes with a reluctant understanding that the school year would hold a different set of adventures, and that summer would be waiting for me at the end of it all.

The beginning of the school year now means a lot more work for me than it did even when I was younger. For graduate school, it means that you're expected to go to class, attend seminars, form committees, present your research, and generally get more results than you usually do during the lazy days of summer. As a coach, it means that I have to shake off my slacking, hippie summer ways and be a tough, responsible leader able to shape young freshmen into competitive rowers. And though I know I would sorely miss the joys and triumphs of academics and coaching, I still will lament about the end of my freedom and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants adventures of the summer. But, as always, I'll probably still have a ton of adventures throughout the schoolyear, and the summer will take its turn at the end of May.

...And I still have a few days before the schoolyear starts, and who am I kidding? I'm still going to cram as much adventure into every day as I can. It just means that I might have to buy a mountain bike light and get a little less sleep at night. It's okay, bike equipment goes on sale in the winter and I can sleep when I die. As always, long live adventure.