Almost a year gone by...what do I have to show for it?

Wow. It has almost been a year since my European adventure. I am taking my last graduate school classes and maybe my last classes ever as a student. Currently, I am procrastinating working on my last assignment in graduate school.

What has changed since last summer. I moved away from my old residence in DC into an apartment with my gf and her cat. Adjustment was hard for both of us, but we survived like we always to and persisted. I am also 24. My body hurts all the time, I get tired easily, and I have gained 5 (on a good day) to 10 lbs since Eindhoven. I also went to the dentist (a butcher) and he fixed a "cavity" just to be safe...now the tooth that never hurt, hurts all the time...thanks dick head.

Life has taken some weird turns since the beginning of the last school year. We won the graduate league indoor soccer intramurals. I published my first conference paper. I am currently writing my thesis. I found out that some companies want me and that some opportunities don't ring twice. It has been a depressing year monetarily. The amount of my salary has become very apparent.

However, something good came out of this year. I learned how to survive. In November, I was at rock bottom. Nothing was going well, school was treating me like roadkill, my research was shit and I was putting in double time. I see that life is not how people treat you, or how you are perceived by your peers, but how you proceed and how much time you give the stuff that matters and when you say "fuck it." No one expects you to be the fastest, the strongest, or the smartest, just do it over and persist until you are satisfied.