“If you think about it, your favorite memories, the most important moments in your life… were you alone? Life’s better with company.” – Ryan Bingham

If you haven’t seen the movie Up in the Air, you should. It is one of my favorite movies and luckily I was able to catch the last third of it tonight. This may or may not be the most contradictory post I have ever written, but I promise that there is a purpose and hopefully it will all come together in the end. I believe in that quote above from the movie. It’s true. It’s great and powerful. I also value independence, thoughts to myself, and silence. Good company is very important and while it brings happiness I don’t believe that you can experience true happiness until you have experienced it alone. I sort of believe that you also can’t love others until you love yourself.

All week, I’ve been walking around this school wondering if I am the person I wanted to become. After looking back on everything I’ve done, I asked myself if I was happy or if I was just happy because of what these opportunities have given me? The necessary knowledge, experience, family, joy, laughter, dedication, commitment. Of course, I’m happy for all of these things. I also realize that these came at a price. It was at the expense of loneliness and no longer being able to always relate with everyone I have met.

Another thing I realized was that college is just like another high school. In high school you have your party friends and you have your best friends. In college, I want friends that can be both. I’d rather have my party friends be my best friends. I will keep track of how many drinks you’ve had, make sure you get home safely, and will keep skeezy boys away from you. I will also know your life and you will know mine.