After going through a Marine training program ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTtCQfuyj4s ) in a blizzard, and having to pass a run test i never thought imaginable, i have learned that your friends, teammates, and family are there for a reason.  They are there for more than just to love you and tell you everything will be alright.  The most important thing I took from that program was to keep going even after you can’t anymore, because you have people there that won’t let you fail, your teammates. I have a story that proved this point, and it happened only a little over a week later.  I had to run a fitness test that i didn’t think i would ever be able to pass, but I decided that it would make everything easier if I just had my teammates there for support…it did. I had one teammate run the test with me and three others cheering me on and supporting me as I ran my ass off.  And because of them I not only passed the test, but beat over half the team in my times. Use your friends, family, teammates, loved ones as support and anything is possible.

It’s the name of the game.  Without it, nothing would ever get accomplished.  Say that you do poorly at something in life…a test or an athletic competition; if you just sit there and sulk about it then you won’t get any better or be able to learn from your mistakes.  Then, and only then, was this failure.  Because without challenges in life, without obstacles to knock you down, then you will never get better at anything.  You do not fail unless you give up. So work for what you want until you get it, no matter how many times you have to overcome bumps in the road. 

Everyday needs to be progression because if it isn’t… then nothing will change. 

Reach out and talk to someone you trust, it only can get better sometimes. 

You have gone through a lot, but this is just the beginning.  You have so much more to go through that you can not be content with “just getting though it” or “doing what it takes to get by” anymore.  These are the times where you look at yourself and say to yourself that you need to take this and everything in the future head on as fast as you can while still being smart.  I know they say to live everyday like it is your last, but you know what I say? Live everyday so that it isn’t your last.  Live today so that there is a tomorrow.

got some great sleep last night, wasn’t hungover (thanks mainly to milk thistle the savior of college students), got some good work in while i watched the uva-cuse game, ordered pizza and watched some south park, got a workout in, now time to study to crush this last week before break. hopin to god that my best friend can come up with my fam next weekend. over break there will be a ton of musical work done; on my guitar, lyrically, and more mashups…gonna be sick.

last night was one of the most fun nights i have had in a while. I finally came back to drink with the boys and it felt great. but at the same time last night really brought me back down off my high horse.  It made me realize that I need to go home. All of my friends are going home this week and next week while im stuck here till mid-May and I have no weekends off.  Yeah sure my family is coming up once per week, but I’m only gonna get to see them for maybe 20 minutes at a time with the way my schedule is working out. I sat on the 4 hr bus ride back from Middlebury and just let all of my thoughts flow and bring me down and yeah, it fuckin sucks but I can do it. I just gotta keep my head clear and high and I can make it through. This is the first of four years of this. You know what they say, the first is always the hardest.

Today was one of the greatest days of my life.  My number one school choice was Middlebury and I missed it by one freakin spot. Had I been just a little more athletic or maybe just better grades I would have achieved my goal of going there.  But I didn’t in the end so I ended up here at Hamilton. But I had the chance today to prove to that coach that he made the wrong choice, and I did exactly that.  In my first day fully back from injury I scored 2 goals and had 2 assists in 10 minutes of play and it led us to a 10-5 win over a top 5 team in the country.  I could not have been more happy when we got on the bus to come back to the hill but on the ride back everything hit me at once…I cant go home until May, Im not gonna see the most important people in my life until then, and that Im second guessing my choice for many things including college…