Future Tense

"I never think of the future- it will come soon enough." -Albert Einstein (U.S, German-born physicist)

“We are so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are.” -Calvin & Hobbes (Comic Strip)

Well, here I am. Four months in and wrapping up the end of my first semester of college. I guess it's true what they say about time flying by when you're having fun. Who would have thought fun could be found in the town of Caldwell, New Jersey? It is so easy to get caught up in the new, fresh college surroundings, especially when you're over 2,500 miles away from home. New found freedom takes over and it hits you, you're grown-up. Everything you dreamed of as a kid is sitting on your doorstep. The most valuable thing I have learned about myself during this life altering experience is I spent too much time waiting for the future. I mean, to an extent everything we do should be in accordance to our hopes and dreams of the future we desire, but at what point are we merely sacrificing our present? I remember entering my freshman year of high school. My parents telling me to enjoy it because it was going to fly by if I did not pay close enough attention. But I was an angst-filled teenager, what the heck did my parents know? Well, I just want to say thanks, Mom and Dad. It really did fly by and oh, how I wish I did pay attention and realize that those would be the times of my life. Even though, every single day of high school all I did was complain how much it sucked and how much I wanted to be in college already. It is like looking back on my childhood and realizing how easy it was to be carefree and all I needed was a good Disney movie to make me believe in the magic of finding my prince charming. Oh, to be that young again. Now look at me, a college freshman living away from home thirty minutes from the "Big Apple". It is my dream come true. And this time I am going to make it all worth it. Because as I sit here in my "wiser (yeah, right) old age", I vow to make this time count. Of course its a give-in I'll worry about my future, but I've only got one shot at The Now. So here's to making My Life count because at the end I want to be able to say I did all I could...

...how about you?