Here's to the Nights

Summer has never seemed so cold.

As May approaches, bags are being packed. Plans are being made for next fall as the new season comes crashing in around us. Some faces won’t be back when September rolls around, and it’s hard to feel like this year is really this close to over. I know most people are just telling me not to worry about it, because fall will come, and with it will be new friendships and faces… new memories and certainly new Facebook albums (psh, of course). But every year is different, and while I know a lot of things will be the same, there will also be a million things changed.

I came to this place skeptical of what it could offer me. Still clinging to my past back home, I was slow to pursue a life here and slow to make attachments. I was quick to judge and hesitant to really get involved.

But over time, I noticed that few things can compare to walking down the street with the California sun on my face and some good tunes in my ear. To living vicariously through APU, and getting to know some amazing people in the process. To standing at the top of a mountain looking down on the valley with some of the people you love the most. To getting to know my beautiful sister in a totally new way. To the nights I would bring pie to Bowles on Waffle Wednesdays. To Richie’s juice party. To driving with the windows down, wind playing in your hair and face, looking out on the ocean. To driving down the PCH singing along with songs from the 90’s. To Ian’s playlists. To donut man runs at 1 am. To really living instead of just existing.

This year I feel like even though I made some mistakes, no one cared less about me because of it. It’s one of the first times in my life I felt like I was really accepted… not just for who I am, but for who I am supposed to be, and everything I’m going to be.

So thanks to all of you who made this year what it was. Because to me, it was everything I had wanted and more. I can’t wait for more memories, more laughter, more new friends and another new beginning.

Live it well.