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As I get ready to take my exams, I've been thinking about this past semester. It's been quite different from either of my first semesters of college, and for a number of reasons. Obviously I've learned at least a little bit of book knowledge, but I'm not about to write about that.
I've learned a lot about people in general this semester. No one is 100% predictable. Just when you think you know everything there is to know about a person, or at least enough to figure out what you don't know, you realize that you're wrong. This is true in both bad ways and good ways. I'm not about to give examples or anything, but I've experienced this fact both ways. People can surprise me, and I shouldn't always assume I know what's going to happen. I've also realized that life goes on without me. That sounds kind of stupid at first, but last year I managed to pretty much live in both Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, plus I kept in fairly close e-mail contact with most of my friends. This semester, I've gone home like twice and don't keep in as close contact with most people. But their lives go on and they survive without me. It's great when I get to see them and all, but when they don't see me, their lives still continue. It goes the other way too.
I think I've finally accepted the fact that things will never be exactly the same. Thanksgiving specifically taught me this. No matter how many of "the old crowd" we get together, no matter how many parties at Bobby's we have, no matter how much Diet Rite we drink, things are never going to be exactly the same as they were in high school. I guess it's one of those "change" things I wrote about earlier. I'm not sure that I can say whether things now are worse or better than before. They're just different. Let's face it, everybody changes at least a little when they go off to school. Without those people there, the people back home also change. When you throw all of those people back together, a great time can still be had...but it's a different kind of great time than used to be had.
I've learned a lot about myself this semester. A quite humbling set of grades has continued my post-high school trend of reminding me that I'm not as smart as I think I am. I've learned that I can survive being away from Birmingham for weeks at a time, and actually have a pretty fun time doing it. Again, I still don't know that I'd say that I enjoy either way over the other. They're simply different. I guess it's good for me to have experienced both.
I'm not exactly sure what the overall moral here is. I sort of wish I did, but I guess that'd take the fun out of it. Oh well, on to next semester to learn more non-academic stuff.