The Mountain Climb

Wow, the first week of school! I love this time of the year! Catching up with friends you haven’t seen since last spring and catching up with professors is probably the best thing about college. I wish I could explain the feeling, but it’s none other. Campus is bustling with events for everybody and people getting lost. (I love the freshmen daze!)

Honestly, there’s a part of me where I wish I was on summer vacation back in Tulsa, but reality kicked in the past couple of days where this is it. This is what I’ve dreamed about since I was in elementary school: my college senior year. It’s an exciting, humbling, and fearful experience. The changes of faces through the years can be overwhelming. Some are with excitement due to them crossing the stage and starting new, great endeavors in their life. I take pride and feel honored to have them as friends. They inspire me to keep going. In fact, they encourage me to enjoy every waking moment of this last year because I’ve heard it over and over again, “I miss those college days.” While on the other hand, I often think about those who miss the college days for those who didn’t or won’t finish with me due to a thing called life. You know it’s funny. I watched a lot of the Cosby Show growing up and in one of the episodes where Theo goes to college; they gave some of the best advice for college freshmen. “Look to your left. Look to your right. These people will not be here when you graduate.” I didn’t know it would take such an emotional toll on me like it did, but it did. It’s the other side of the motivating factor that keeps me going. Those people would do almost anything to get to where I’m at and sometimes I forget that. It’s an honor and a privilege to be a college student. Hopefully our politicians and constituents will notice that come November 4th!

It’s scary though. Once you go through you’re senior year in high school, you feel like the big person on campus and develop senioritis. I went through that. I learned and benefited from it. Now, I’m seeing it from a new perspective. Over the break, I had the opportunity to really sit back and see the areas that I hadn’t given back. There was a day when I walked on UNC’s campus nearly 4 years ago, on August 23, 2004, and two great people took me under their wings. Through them, I was able to learn the ins and outs of the campus, the inner workings, and met about 60% of the campus in just one semester. I felt scared honestly and inferior. What in the world could they possibly see in me to want to hang out with a freshman? What could I give to this school when I’m still learning my way? Honesty. I was scared and had to vocalize it in order for it to go away. My family taught me a phrase that has come down through generations, mainly to answer to the size of our family, but it’s true for so many other reasons. “A closed mouth doesn’t get fed.” It’s ok to be scared sometimes. It’s natural, especially when it’s a new and foreign territory. I promise you, you’re not the only one. You’re probably sitting next to them in class or living next door to them in the residence halls. Use the opportunities that have been given to us like all the Welcome Week activities. The difference between high school and college is simply you determine your destiny. It’s all up to you.

What a Difference a Day Makes

It’s good to come home. Honestly, for my out of state people and/or those who come from really tight knit communities, that is a statement that will always be close to your heart no matter what. For the past few weeks, I’ve been able to come back home (where my parents’ now live) and just do something I thought I was allergic too back on campus: rest and relaxation. For the most part, there have not been that many emails, phone calls, or panic text messages that I haven’t had to respond to. Driving down from Greeley to Tulsa, I had the opportunity to really think back on how blessed I am to be where I am.
Not only just that, it was an opportunity to reflect on the challenges that were going to be there when I get back with administration changes along with the most excited, yet fearful, senior year ahead. This was a time for me to debrief and unwind for a bit. Thank you 10 hour trek through Kansas!

I’m struggling to convey the amount of excitement I have right now. Less than 48 hours ago, I was able to look upon the newest addition to our ever-expanding clan. While I was able to hold my own namesake with a “K,” I was honored to see the bright future that was ahead of him, based on his big cousin being able to offer advice to him down the way. (Not only that, since my name is Christopher D. and his being Kristopher L., I have the honor of giving him his nickname!) I can’t explain when you can see your entire family and friends gather around another through a very pivotal and crucial time. This may sound sappy, but I really did look around to see if my UNC family would be around so I can share the exciting news. Then I realized the miracle of camera phones! I’m sure as time goes on, you’ll see numerous pictures of my mini-me as the year progresses.

Remember that challenge I was talking about concerning the fear of senior year? Well, being in Tulsa helped remind me how precious life and opportunities are. With at least 2 murders a day of young people 25 and younger in the Tulsa Metro Area, I’m able to see that despite vacation time, there is still an obligation to provide hope to people. I thought about those who are now laying in caskets, with architecture, sales and marketing, biochemist, and all sorts of potential, being pushed aside for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It hurts. But, with all the hoopla about having a new baby in the fold, it reminds me of the obligation that we all have to encourage one another to finish stronger than those before us. One day can literally change your life.