23!

This past Friday was a very important day for me Musers. This past Friday was the day I turned 23! My birthday is my favorite day of the year, simply because it allows me to reflect on what I have done different in my life, since the last birthday. I have always been the type of person to sit and wonder where would I be five years from now? and where I want to be five years from now? Well, this birthday marked five years from when I turned 18, and I am exactly where I wanted to be. A lot of times I think of the future, and I only think of the end result and what I would like to accomplish. Although the end result is what motivates me to partake it the journey, I sometimes forget to prepare for the bumps ahead. five years ago, I knew that I wanted to play football in college, and I wanted to be a graduate. Those two things were the only aspirations that I had for myself. But, there was no way that I could imagine that between then and now, I would go to three different schools, and go through four different majors. There was no way I could imagine that I would let my grades slip, and I would take a year off from school because of it. There was no way I could imagine that I would enlist into the army. There was no way that I imagine that I would work a full-time job, be a full-time student, and play college football. Turning 23 was my most memorable birthday, not because of how I celebrated it, but because these past five years have been the hardest five years of my life! Despite the hardships, I am about to accomplish what I thought I would five years ago. Yes, there has been a tremendous amount of bumps and bruises along the way, but there have also been a few people by my side to patch me up, and make sure that I accomplish everything that I had my mind set upon. No matter what I went through these past five years I am proud to say that my end result has not changed. It may not be the same team or the same degree, but I am accomplishing something that I thought I would five years ago. So my advice to you is set goals, wonder of the future, prepare for hardships, but stay true to where you want to go, who you to be, what you want to accomplish, and appreciate every year that goes by allowing you remain on your journey.

-Don