Grow up? But that means no more stories

This is another introspective entry and a damn long one at that, but I felt like after my really depressing entry the other day I needed to counterbalance it with the joys I have. To cheer myself up after the short lived freak out I had the other night about how my college experience was turning out, I decided to think ahead to all the cool things coming up in the next few years.

1. First of all, i started to get really hyped up over my junior year. I know it's a long time away, but the fact that I actually get to study abroad amazes me. I can hardly contain how excited I am over it. Some people never get the experience. Ever since 9th grade, I've had the exact spot picked out. I want to go to London. Yeah, I know a lot of people say that when you've got dozens of possibilities for studying abroad ranging from all sorts of foreign speaking European countries, why would you pick the country that's most like America? You could go to Florence and study art where some of the most amazing art in history was created. But England has always appealed to me. I love the accent, I love the incredibly green parks and the tea and crumpet hour around 4 oclock where people sort of stop what they are doing and grab a cup of tea. I love Notting Hill, which I've actually been to once before, and the spirit and fun of Portebello Road. Most of all I love the english guys. Oh man. They have the best accents and there's just something so appealing. I hope to find me a nice one there and we can go to the parks on nice weekend afternoons and read. I think it's the kind of place I'd fit in relatively well, versus a more foreign country where i might feel lost most of the time.

2. I think it also all comes down to the fact that I'm studying what I love. The last few years have been a strange sort of transformation into art. Even now, it's weird to think of myself as an artist. Growing up I always expected I'd become a writer, journalist, or a psychologist. I went through a lot of different phases and art seems to have come about as a whim. Very impulsive even though I put some thought into it. It was kind of a gamble, but throughout this year I found that this really is the perfect thing for me to be doing. I don't think I could possibly have stuck with a major like political science or engineering, it's not in my personality. I do feel like modern digital art, with all its new technology and constantly changing spirit, is something I'm going to love throughout all the years, and I shouldnt forget that and undermine the fact that I really am learning a lot about design and how I can continue to develop my own style over the next few years. It's nice to think that there might be a possibility of working at pixar or disney and really existing in that kind of world where I don't have to act my age all the time.

3. I think I made it seem in the other entry that I didn't appreciate the friends I made this year, but I didn't mean for that at all. I was feeling nostalgic thinking of my high school friends off at school. It's true that i didnt make a million and one friends here at usc, but the few i made are amazing and I wouldnt have been able to make it through this year without them. My suitemates are all incredible girls and the few guys Im good friends with on the floor and around campus are also awesome. It's weird how it started out as this random assignment and has turned into individual friendships that I think Im going to miss having around everyday over summer. We've gone to parties together and birthday dinners and just hung out in someone's room watching a movie. I love them and hope to hold on to those friendships next year.

It just goes to show that there are always ups to the downs.