The Journey

I think it would be easiest for someone my age to consider my academics as my "journey." Being in school since kindergarten, I think I have already had plenty of experiences, yet I still have (what feels like) a ways to go. Currently, as of spring quarter 2008, I think I am in "The road of trials" chapter of my academic success. I am still in school and plan in staying in school for a while until I finish getting all the degrees necessary to finally go out into the workforce and sustain a well-paying job. But with school, "the call" really wasn't due to my own planning or will; I, like every other kid, was technically forced to go by law. So even as un-heroic or impassionate that may seem, I think the experiences that I had were very valuable, from all the roadblocks that I've overcome to the friends that I've made to the great teachers that I've had. It sometimes feels like I learned just as much, if not more, from the experiences and people that I met outside of the classroom than the curriculum I studied in the classroom.

Some phases of the journey seem to still apply to me, such as "the ogres" that I still face everyday (and probably will) throughout my academic career. I still deal with hard classes, schedule confusions, and such on an almost-daily basis. The phase of "the ogres" seems to be one that occurs before the actual journey, "the road of trials", begins but I still think that "the ogres" can still occur even during the actual journey. Being on my academic journey, it's much easier to look back than it is to look forward into the future because I still feel like I am evolving and whatever new-found passions come my way will probably greatly affect the goals I have set for myself (such as my major/minor). I know that I will be on this "road of trials" for the next couple of years and I can only imagine what the next two phases, "the return guardians" and "the homecoming" will be like for me, but I can only wish that they are as beneficial and meaningful to me as other phases of my academic life have been.