Looking back on Arizona

Today is my last full day in Arizona. After quite possibly the hardest run of finals I have ever had, my third year of college has come to and end. And due to the difference in schedules, I have a 4 month summer break to look forward to, lucky me.

My room is in boxes. Mike, my roommate, has already left for his parent’s house in New Mexico, along with the majority of my friends in the hall. By the end of the day, the only people left living in my dorm will be my RA Jon and I. I check out of my room at 9 AM tomorrow, then it’s off to Oregon once again. Now that my room is nearly packed, I wanted to take an opportunity to reflect on my time here.

People have asked which school I liked better, University of Arizona or Oregon State. Honestly I couldn’t give you a straight answer. If I told you I liked one over the other, that would be a lie, but on the other hand if I told you I liked them equally I would be lying as well. The best way to put it is this: If I were to rewind the clock to March of my senior year in high school and instead of getting into OSU I got into UA, this would have fit too. I feel at home here as much as I feel at home at OSU. Different people, different places, but still home.

Its no secret, the people you live with define the experience you have, especially when you live in a dorm. I was fortunate enough to be placed in a hall filled with some of the coolest, craziest motherfuckers I have ever met. Everyone was completely different, but we all got along famously. And we had some great times. Some stories will be told, some will not, and some can be read in the UA police blotter, and that is not a lie. I will miss everyone immensely; they easily made this year for me.

Taekwondo also played a huge part in my time here. In my time here I grew 2 belt ranks, became proficient with nunchucks (cool huh?), and went to the spring national tournament in the one and only Las Vegas, Nevada and took first place in my ring with my ‘chucks. My first tournament! First place! Absolutely unreal I tell you. Of course I made a few friends through taekwondo as well, one of them I will be competing against next year at nationals in the XMA ring, something I am very excited about, and one of them will be moving out to Oregon in a couple years to go to grad school at the University of Oregon. She also has plans to start a taekwondo school in the Portland area, and perhaps bring me on as an instructor, by that time I’m going to be a second degree blackbelt (dear god…). I am truly fortunate to have trained here, my two instructors Kenny and Jackie are both top notch, and really helped me improve. Again, everyone from taekwondo will be sorely missed.

It’s so quiet now. My last neighbor has checked out of his room, and the only people left are Cory and Andy who live at the other end of the hall. Its going to be very different when I get back to Oregon, everyone here has left such an impression on me in such a short time. I stupidly thought that in my time here I wouldn’t make any lifelong friends, every friendship would be what Chuck Palahniuk has dubbed “single-serving.” I can’t believe how wrong I was. Maybe I’m still accustomed to not making an impression on people and simply returning the favor by way of self-fulfilling prophecy, but I honestly can’t remember a time when I made so many close friends so fast. My head starts spinning when I think about it. Of course I’m going to have to come back and visit, I’d be an idiot not to. I only hope I can get back here soon.

I’m never sure how many people besides my immediate family follow my ramblings, but on the off chance that this blog is popular amongst my friends as well let me say this to all of you: despite your names not being explicitly mentioned in this entry, every one of you left an impression on me and taught me something. If all of you had been “single-serving,” I wouldn’t have bothered writing this. Thank you so much for everything you have given me, and I will be back soon. All of you, take care.


-DK