Keep Moving Forward

It's surprising to think that six months ago my life consisted of travels and excitement, adventure and mystery.

Now instead of the ocean waves gently rocking me to sleep, I deal with late nights in the library and crawling into my squeaky, stationary bed sometime between 1 and 2 am. I no longer can talk with Kristen until the wee hours of the morning about the global exam we didn't study enough for, or our favorite memories thus far and the memories we are bound to have.

Now, my room is quiet and lonely. The open windows allow me to hear the passing cars and the quiet hooting of an owl, constantly reminding me of my static life.

It as if Semester at Sea put me on a high. Country after country, from the Taj Mahal to the Great Wall, how could you possibly be disappointed or upset about any of those experiences? Leaving each port and anticipating the next adventures only made life more exciting.

Life is different now. And that's not necessarily a good or a bad thing. It's just a fact.

I feel as if I was floating on a cloud, soaring high above the world--untouchable. And suddenly, I was dropped like a sack of potatoes, left to pick up the pieces of my life and start with this new perspective on life. The only problem is that my life didn't drop onto solid ground. Picking up the pieces isn't as easy as I anticipated it would be.

I am running in place, pushing myself faster and faster and yet I am going no where.

Instead, it's like I've fallen into a pit of quicksand. Every move I make to pick up a piece makes me sink faster. Naturally, human instinct is to stop moving. But if I stop moving, I still end up sinking. It's just a slower and longer process. So what's better? Should I sink slowly and allow life to pass me by like a movie of my life, but I'm only in the audience? Or should I keep moving? Keep pushing up, hoping to overcome the struggle?

19 credits. President of the Society of Professional Journalists. News Editor of the Quad News. And trying to find a job…it's going to be a long semester.

Just remember: deep breaths.