Endings and Beginnings

It happened.

I graduated college. Say whaat?! It is insane to even say. But it happened! And I am so happy!

The cousins!

On Saturday I walked across the stage and officially became an Alum of Trinity Christian College. The weather did not cooperate at all, but it helped to make the day unforgettable. We had a magnificent lady, Donnita Travis, as a speaker. She is the founder of a really cool organization for kids in Chicago (who knows, maybe we'll be working for some of the same people!). She gave a speech entitled "It's the little things you do, not the big things you say," and ended her talk with a resolute "GO GET 'EM!" which I thought was awesome! (Note to self: do that when you give graduation speeches.) I think I wouldn't mind getting lunch with this lady sometime. Then I grabbed my diploma and called it a day! 

Mi familia. Good lookin' crew, if I do say so myself. 

The whole morning was a blur. I kept looking around at my fellow classmates and thinking to myself, "How are we all here right now? How did we get to this point? Are we really in these hats and gowns right now?" It was one of those out-of-body things. We ended the day running around trying to get pictures in between downpours and navigating the chaos of all those people on our little campus. 

Daddio.

I left the event kind of all over the place, but the one thought I kept coming back to was this is a huge deal. This will be one of those days that I'll forever look back on as a watershed in my life. 

It's a lot of endings. The end of my college life and the amazing memories that define these four years. The end of my education (for now). The end of living with my five best friends. The end of my undergrad classes. The end of taking 3 hour naps in the middle of the afternoon. (I shall miss those with all my heart, believe me.) The end of familiarity. The end of this little comfort zone. The end of a lot of hard work. 

But it's also a lot of beginnings. The beginning of the "real world." The beginning of educating others. The beginning of my journey at Teach For America. The beginning of making new friends and living in a new city (no, attending Trinity does not qualify as living in Chicago). The beginning of growing up and becoming more independent. The beginning of going to sleep and waking up early. The beginning of uncertainty. The beginning of a huge new challenge and adventure. 

Siblings, laughing at Dad trying to take a picture. This is the 5th try. He's an expert. 

So. As I'm starting to prepare for Teach for America's Institute (more on the details of my job through Teach For America will come later) and search for a roommate and apartment (anybody wanna live with me on the west side? I'll make you cookies?), it is cool to keep in mind that I've reached this point - I've made it to this huge milestone. I'm really proud of myself. I'm really humbled at how blessed my life has been. I'm really anxious at the thought of how the next few years are going to turn out. But really excited too. All the great stories have a little bit of mystery. That's what makes them great! 

So what shall we do? Where do we go from here after such a big day? I think there's just one option: Let's go get 'em!!