less than two weeks…

…until my life as a college student officially starts.  Ufta.  That’s the Norwegian in me coming out.  My emotions are as easily changeable as the Colorado weather-scape.  Some days I’m so freaking excited to start school…to enter the academic world…to engage new people…to expand my ideas.  Not to mention the fact that I don’t have to pay for any of it…so the pressure of loans and work-study aren’t weighing on me.  But the other days consist of my mourning the loss of the life I’ve known for the past five years.  Realizing I don’t have any trips planned for the upcoming months.  More than that, coming to grips with the fact that the people who have become family to me, my dearest and closest friends, won’t be around me on a day to day basis.  I’ve tried to tell myself that they’re all only a few minutes up the freeway and that I can see them anytime I want.  But in my heart I know that it’s not going to be the same.  That life is going to be radically different without them by my side everyday.  There’s no doubt in my mind that school is the next step for me, but it’s been a long time since a transition has been as painful as this one.

So in the coming days I’m choosing to cherish the last days of my “old” life.  To recognize the amazing friendships that I carry with me…remembering the beautiful days that I’ve had overseas that have challenged me to do something more.  And with those good things with me I walk forward with hope…knowing that greater things have yet to come…