As We Go On We Remember...

Okay, so maybe this classic Vitamin C song is tacky but as I look back on my last year I'm starting to realize what the term graduation really means. So I graduated college one year ago this past Sunday - what does that mean?! I had to find a job, a place to live, and give up the safety of college. I had to stop relying on the bank of Mom and Dad (even though the help they still give me is much appreciated). I had to find new niches - thanks to the Boston Theatre Community for letting me into yours. I have to say, it's helped my transition A LOT. It's easy to have friends and a social life in college, all you have to do is walk down the hall but on the first season of The Real World: Allston, keeping in touch with your friends is hard work. First you have to actually FIND A TIME THAT WORKS for both of you (heaven help you if you're looking to catch up with more than one person at once), then you have to pick a location convenient for both of you, and then you finally have to figure out which crazy form of transportation you'll use to get there. But, I digress.

I met the majority of my current closest friends on my FRESHMAN HALL - crazy I know but we got lucky. Many of them stayed in the Boston area post-graduation (two of them even moved in with me) but I had to get used to the fact that I wouldn't be seeing most of them every day anymore. It was last May that I learned graduation meant I had to learn how to say, "Good--." Wait. No. I DON'T HAVE TO USE THAT WORD. In fact, I'm not saying that word. I refuse. Because graduating into the real world is about keeping in touch with the people who are important to you. You don't get to live on the same hall with all of your best friends for the rest of your life. People move away, eventually they get married, etc. So what do you do? You work at your friendships. In this world of texting and cell phones and Facebook there are links all over the place. You send postcards and funny notes in the mail. You fly to Alaska to visit a college friend! You schedule reunions and you hang pictures on your wall and you reminisce of days gone by. I am so lucky to have people in my life that are important enough to me to stay in contact with. I've realized that graduation into adulthood is about realizing how luck you are to have people in your life and remind yourself to keep them there. Tonight, I'm thankful for all of you who have touched my life in some way in the last 23 years and I encourage you to reach out to someone you may have lost contact with in the past few years, months, whatever. Trust me, dropping a quick note will make them remember you don't have to make the word "good***" part of your vocabulary. You only have to say, "I'll see you later." Life is about making the effort. That's what I've learned in the past year and I can't wait to see what I'll learn in the next one.

With friends January 2006 (Freshman Year of College)

Graduation Day, May 17, 2009