Holy Sh*t!!!

I'm done. It's really here. I've finished 5 years of college. It's awesome, it's sad, it's overwhelming. It's crazy. 5 years ago I was 18. I had never been out of the country, never lived outside of Albany, NY. 5 years later, I've lived in Boston, New York City, and Sydney, AUS. I've worked for Fly92, MTV, CSN, and a thousand other jobs in between with a variety of initials. I've laughed, I've cried, I've had a lot of fun, I've been bored out of my mind. I've met some great people and some not so great people. I've learned some in class, I learned a whole lot more in the real world. I did the one thing I swore I'd never do, I grew up.

A major part of my life just ended. Like that. I burned a DVD and left in on Ron's desk and walked across campus for the last time as an undergraduate. It was fitting that it was a DVD project about Bruce. College began and ended with Bruce. September 6, 2003 I moved into White Hall to start one of my favorite years of college. That night I walked over to Fenway Park and sat outside as Bruce played the first of a two night stand there with the E St Band. Here I met Mike who I've keep in contact with all these years. He even took me to a Bruce show middler year at the Orpheum, my first. I remember Fenway like it was yesterday. Some homeless guy offered two girls with us tickets bc 'sorry boys, they have boobs'. We thought whatever they can't be real. The tickets that is. So the girls walk off with the tickets. About 20 minutes later they come back.
"Weren't real huh?"
"No they were real Fenway Park is awesome."
That's why I couldn't tell you the name of those girls today. They ruined my chance to see the E St Band that night. They took two legit tickets to Bruce Springsteen and used them to check out Fenway for 20 minutes. After that we stayed for a while then walked home. About halfway through the park we heard them as they started to play Rosalita and I sprinted back in time to hear "Your mama says she knows that I don't have any money". That's how I started my college career. And here I am.

The Glory Days. The things I'll never forget. The things in 20 years I'll be able to call up my friends and say do you remember when...we were orientation leaders for a summer and you all got fired while I was on the cape eating lobster. Remember that time we drove down to Dave Matthews at the Tweeter center and saw him play #34. Remember when camped out at Fenway for Yankees/Sox tickets. Remember when we played two-up on ANZAC day or laughed til we cried and possibly pissed ourselves. Remember that time at Conor's. Why is this so warm? Why are you so bad at quarters?

Water balloon fights at the house, inflatable pools after formal, scavenger hunts, marathon mondays, Stella, Law & Order reruns until 3am, a trip to UConn for Spring weekend, random trips to Montreal, the shark and how it chose to work when it wanted to. Broomball freshmen year, Johnny Applesauce, Elia's buffalo chicken calzones, Little Stevies, and Scorpion Bowls at Tiger Lilly's. Road trips to Newport, Ben Folds, Unwritten Law, Bruce, Bruce, Jonny Lang, The Last Dispatch, Papa Roach, Gin Blossoms, and so many more concerts. Getting told by Matt Nathanson that Halloween colors are always appropriate in February.

There are so many more things that I'm sure people will chime in with, but I have to say through all the ups and downs, the highs and lows, it was a good ride. There is nothing I would change if I could because I did my best and that's all that counts. I learned more about myself than I ever could have hoped. So I took the long way to life. Jay Mohr said it best "leaving a school after four years is like leaving a party at 10pm." You know I never left a party at 10pm in my life.

"Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight
and I'm going to drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it
but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days" - Glory Days

"I am but one man in a raging sea, but I'm still afloat. And we're all still here."

So here's to the memories, to the glory days, to the friends that have come and gone and the friends I've yet to meet. To my family who stood behind me and the mentors and faculty who gave me a kick in the ass when I needed it. To the fraternity that taught me commitment and dilligence and leadership skills that I will use forever. And to the 'blood brothers', I swear forever friends.

"Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street" - Racing In The Streets