A (School) Year in Review.

Well folks, here it is! I've finished up my last week of classes and all that remains are the final tests. Cake.

It's been an amazing experience living here in Colorado.* I started out the year decorating my walls and absolutely petrified of how my classes would be, and now I'm ending it by taking down all my posters and wondering what essay questions Dr. Watson will give us on our Middle Eastern History final.

I remember asking Nick, Scott, Teddy, and Austin** at the beginning of the year about classes; were they hard your freshman year? Were the professors nice? Was the homework crazy? Did I have to read ALL these books? I remember getting here second out of my four roommates, meeting Dan, and then speculating about the other two. "Yeah, I think this Mike guy is pretty hardcore," Dan told me, "I saw his Facebook pictures and he looked pretty legit. Plays guitar and likes metal."***

I remember our first day of classes, when we were awakened at 4 AM by our RA and RARs to go up to Red Rocks amphitheater and have our FYI**** looking out over Denver as the sun rose. The time the whole Ghetto Stairwell went to Casa Bonita, ate horrible Mexican food, and pretended it was someone's birthday so the Mariachi band would serenade us. The time I tried out for the Chapel Team and got schooled by Dan the Man, who I've decided can bend space/time to play the drums at unheard-of speeds.

I remember the relief felt at midterms when I realized that college, although harder, is still just school... and I can handle school. The time I finished my first-ever 10-page college essay and handed it in to Professor DeVore with an enormous feeling of accomplishment. The time I slept in through class due to an extremely late night and was amazed that no one haggled me about it.^ The time Austin, Dan the Man and I decided at 11 PM on Halloween night to ride our bikes downtown, and stayed out until 4 AM biking around the streets.

I remember visiting home and how fun it was to see all my old friends again, yet realizing how quickly I came to miss my Ghetto family. How I reflected for a while about how strange it is that we have so many relationships in our lives that we take for granted. How I learned the techniques for dumpster diving, table swooping, and ticket clipping, then reaped the benefits of other's trash.^^ How I spent my mornings alone in the tiny Prayer Chapel and felt so much more collectd throughout the day.

I remember feeling grateful towards the hard times in my life; for when I took a full class load my senior year of high school, because it prepared me excellently in the "time management" department. For the times my mom and dad punished me for doing stupid things, because they caused me to realize the faults in dumb decisions. For the times my plans fell to suck, because it taught me to be flexible. For growing up in a small town, because I learned how to make my own fun and appreciate what I have.

I remember the time Trevor asked me to be an RAR with him in the Ghetto next year, and how excited I was.^^^ The time I was admitted into the Discipleship program to be a D-Group leader for next year. The time Jarrod let me know that I'll be moving up with my 8th grade boys' small group into their freshman year.

I remember the harsh times, where I wretched and yelled. The sweet times, when I stared in wonder at the beauty around me and smiled to God for the gift. The boring times when I sat through a pointless lecture. The exhilarating times when I flew down a snow-covered slope up at Copper Mountain.

I remember coming to this simple realization: My life matters. Despite the fact that I am one in billions, I have just as much power to change this world as anyone else. And it would be an absolute shame to waste that.


Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K




*Or "Colo-rad-bro" as a friend would say
**If you recall, Nick is my RA (Residant Assistant) and Teddy, Austin and Scott are the RARs (Resident Assistant Roommates)
***Turns out Mike, or Scooter as we call him, is the farthest thing from "hardcore." But he does have some sick Facebook pics.
****FYI = Freshman Year Integration. It's like FTP except without the suck
^ Except for my conscience... I hate missing classes.
^^ I use this term loosely here, as you'd be surprised what super-wealthy people consider "trash."
^^^ And still am. It's gunna rock!