In a previous post, I detailed the reflective experience that was applying to the College Honors Program (CHP). Now, nearly three months after the process began, I am delighted to say that I was accepted into the program, and that my schedule now bears the added discipline of an honors seminar, colloquium nights, and, once I get to my senior year, thesis writing.
The happy news prompted, yet again, a moment of reflection (I am, after all, at a Jesuit school, and must live up to its principles in full). This time, what came to mind was how far I’ve come over the last few years and who has been there to see it – that is, who has been with me along the way.
My parents and my family, of course, are in the forefront. Beyond that, there are a few individuals to whom I owe overwhelming gratitude for putting up with my planning, ranting and scheming over all of these years. I’m happy to tell all of them now, whether in my life anymore or not, that I happily consider myself to have ‘made it.’
While of course there is still a long way to go before I could consider my goals accomplished, for anyone that has known me for a while, they know that I have long fantasized about ‘making it.’ More specifically, this included moving out, becoming independent, focusing on academic subjects I am excited about, taking on leadership and higher involvement in topics I am passionate about, and, most importantly, becoming the kind of well-accomplished person that I have aspired to be for so many years. For me, acceptance into the CHP marks a concrete measurement of just how far I have come from the days of planning and daydreaming about the person I would become.
I was the one person out of all my high school friends who left. Choosing to move out here to HC meant leaving behind the people with whom I had shared the majority of my previous life, including my hopes for the future here. Here to see it or not, the person I was even two years ago, and the people that surrounded me then would undoubtedly be proud of where I am now, and the person that I am becoming.
To those precious people: thank you for shaping me into the person that was ready and excited to bring me to where I am now. Thank you for listening to hour after hour of my ramblings about what the future would hold for me – it’s shaping up far better than I ever could have asked for.
