Here's to Another, Better Year

“Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”

                    

       - John Green, Looking for Alaska

They say when you're a teenager, the best times in your life are yet to come. That is what fuels us. Part of living in the present is imagining a future, and sometimes wishing and working to get to the end point is better than the actual end. We use the future to justify the present, and each year that ends we hope for a better one to start. We use it to keep us going and know that the way things are now aren't how they always will be. Every year is a new start. New classes, the potential for new friends, new routine, and a step closer to whatever end game is in the future. I don't have a specific idea about what I want to do when I finish college, but the thought of having a year of college done and a year to decide what to do next is extremely daunting. When I think about each year, I think about how each year I tell myself things will get better. Not in a sad I want to kill myself way, but in a way that says I have a future, and if I don't like something now, change is always around the corner.

Today was my second day of my second year of college. It is my first year as a biology major and I have a new roommate. I was able to keep the things from last year I liked, and rid myself of the things that I knew weren't making me happy. I've been to all of my classes, and I got a week of college camp helping with Major Events Committee at school, which although I had good times I probably wouldn't do it again. I pretty much sold my soul, (and my body) to them. I did move in early though so I got my part of the deal. 7:45 Organic Chemistry seems to be part of the deal too, well a different deal. I think maybe with the devil. Curse profs who enjoy mornings.

To kick off the new year, here are some new Shirali pictures. 

Also, I've been holding out on this because it was a surprise for friend, but now he has seen it so I can post it. I made it back in July from an idea from my friend Heather (mentioned in a previous biography). I really enjoyed working on it, and am actually pretty proud of it. I come off as a science and logic personality, but I really do like the arts a lot.

So anyway, I hope this is another great year full of Enya naps, family drawings, Shirali dinners, Zee's runs, actual runs, and great people.

Here's to another, better year,

Noelle