One year ago, I was the beer pong princess. I could walk though the doors of almost every bar downtown and get a hug instead of a request for an ID. Bartenders started preparing my drink when they saw me approaching - a stiff Long Beach. My tabs were never as much as they should have been and a lot of free alcohol was coming my direction.
It was a blast. Together with my best friend, Shannon, we dominated downtown Boise. It was our thing. Our life. And we loved every second of it. Every night was a new adventure that brought new people and a plethora of stories - many that we could only vaguely remember. In fact, we loved it so much we found a little apartment a short 2-minute walk from Main St. and the fabulous times continued. If only this had been the beginning. Sadly, although I didn't realize it at the time, it would be the end of an era. Binge drinking, crazy behavior and forgotten memories have to stop at some time - or else it turns into what some people would call "a problem."
As my younger brother started to reach his college graduation and began applying for law schools, the guilt of my decisions started to creep up on me. Maybe... just maybe... a 2 year hiatus from college was not the wisest decision. What did I have to show for those 24 months during which I could have been earning a college degree?
So, being the impatient person that I am, I did something unheard of in a family of liberal arts college graduates. I enrolled at a vocational school. In nine months, I could be trained to have a career - one that I would actually be employable in. So as summer rolls around again, that is where I find myself. Instead of nursing hangovers for most of the morning, I am learning how to draw blood, give injections, take vital signs, cast broken arms and suture up wounds. Instead of going out after work and staying there until all hours of the night drinking, I find myself doing homework and going to bed early. In one year, my life has done a complete 180.
This is bittersweet. When you've spent the last several years being a party animal, all of your friends are party animals too. So naturally, with the cessastion of my craziness, a lot of my "best friends" began to disappear. This was the hardest lesson to learn. I look at old pictures and find myself missong them, but I know I am trying to change my life for the better. Loss is sometimes nessecary for gain and I know that a year from today, everything will have been worth it.
I know my whole life is about to change. And I'm okay with that. In fact, I can't wait.
PS... here's what I have to show for 2 years not spent in college: a broken arm, one fake tooth, the ability to stand up for myself, improved hand-eye coordination, friends I will have forever, friends I will never forget, thousands of amazing pictures, memories I wouldn't trade for the world, experiences that taught me things you could never learn in a classroom, how to conceal a hickie, how to make a hangover look like a serious illness, how to fake pink-eye, ways to show up to work late with no consequences, the best way to get free drinks, how to duck and weave through a crowded bar.... the list could go on and on. Just because I wasn't in a classroom, doesn't mean I didn't learn anything. :)
