When I began applying for my University studies earlier this year, I did so with few expectations. I just knew that I wanted to study as soon as possible, and a good first step was to start applying. I originally would have applied to every college possible, if not for the fact that it started to get cost and time prohibitive. So I narrowed my focus to just the UK. Suffice to say, it was a stressful endeavor, which has now almost come to a close. Save for LSE, all the decisions have come in. I, quite unfortunately, did not make it into Oxford (see right picture), and adding that to UCL and KCL, leaves just Durham now (see left picture). A dower way to start this post, but something which is necessary for closure. Now, I'll just have to finish the PSC application and begin on the US colleges, especially after finishing both SATs.
I spent Boxing Day celebrating Christmas. The 05ip04 party was a great chance to see everyone again, and 3 of the 4 of us who left were there. It was a pity I couldn't stay longer, and was soon at the ACS (I) Debate party, where I got to meet some people I've not seen in years. Eventually, there were 5 of us who stayed over, but only Sam, Paul and I remained for lunch. After watching Titan A.E., we left.
So, for the part that is meant to make this thousandth post significant. As the year slowly made its passage through time, the world as we know it became a bleaker place then when it began. To add to the list of taboo words that had already included terrorism, now the economy, natural disasters, food safety and energy prices also garner similar responses. The prospects for 2009 faded slowly but surely. Yet the year is not completely lost in this deluge of negativity. New leadership, sporting milestones and diplomatic breakthroughs give reason to have hope once '09 dawns. And for that hope alone, I know I'll enjoy my 2009.
This year, I finished the first portion of my schooling. From here on now, it will be an all new ball game that will last for a duration that is determined by what my eventual professional suffix is. 12 years I've worked towards putting myself in the optimum position to begin this. It has been time well spent.
In my 18th year, I lived it for the moment. That will continue until I begin the next phase of my life in 2 weeks' time. Then, a new mindset is required. Perhaps it is best summed up with a quote from the first actual book I've read in quite a while:
"Still on the red road, now three-quarters of the way to the top, Private First Class Paul Berlin did not have the lieutenant's advantages of perspective and overview. Marching automatically, he had the single advantage of hard labor. He felt strong. He felt the muscles working in his thighs and stomach. He did not think about the mountains or the coming battle. For a time he did not think about anything - just the effortless coordination of the march. It was easy. And when the time came, when he made the decision, he would simply stop. But for now his legs kept climbing... He felt a curious quiet. He felt he could stop at any moment, whenever the time came, whenever he told himself to quit... He would simply fall... All this was decided. But the decision did not reach his legs. The decision was made, but it did not flow down to his legs, which kept climbing the red road. Powerless and powerful, like a boulder in an avalanche, Private First Class Paul Berlin marched toward the mountains without stop or the ability to stop."
"Lieutenant Sidney Martin watched him come. He admired the oxen persistence with which the last soldier in the column of thirty-nine marched, thinking that the boy represented so much good - fortitude, discipline, loyalty, self-control, courage, toughness. The greatest gift of God, thought the lieutenant in admiration of Private First Class Paul Berlin's climb, is freedom of will. Sidney Martin, not a man of emotion, raised a hand to hail the boy. But Paul Berlin had no sense of the lieutenant's sentiment. His eyes were down and he climbed the road dumbly. His steps matched his thoughts. He did not notice the heat, or the beauty of the country, or the lieutenant's raised hand. If he had noticed, he would not have understood. He was dull of mind, blunt of spirit, numb of history, and struck with wonder that he could not stop climbing the red road toward the mountains."
From Going After Cacciato, by Tim O'Brien.
I'll think more about that phase of life later. For now, it is enough to have experienced 2008 and experience the next 2 weeks.
