The End of the Beginning

As a returning junior I find myself to be in an interesting place in life. I am halfway done with college and while I have learned a great deal, I feel like it went by in a flash. For the first time in my life this summer I was actually caught off guard by how fast my life is changing. I am not in my safety net of high school A/V classes and clubs, I am halfway through my education at a top school in my desired field. There are people around me doing fantastic things, I had several friends intern for NBC during the Olympics, some did work on some big name television shows, and one has been performing stand up in the NYC comedy circuit with comedians that I deeply admire. I am no longer a kid who wants to "end up making videos of some kind", I am a twenty year old who is not so far from having the chance to professionally do so. I am past the point in my life where I can slack off and half ass an assignment, the costs of that outweigh the benefits by an incredible amount. When all is said and done I will have paid about $200,000 for my four years in Ithaca and I doubt I will ever say, "you know, I'm really glad I half assed that project so I could get to hang out with my friends a few hours sooner than I would have had otherwise." I cannot afford to squander this opportunity to learn from the best my school has to offer. I believe that this realization is the most important one I have had in my life. I am dedicating the next two years to continually besting myself. I am going to find out if I have what it takes to live up to my goals, what it takes to make the life I dreamed about in high school a reality. I am going to put everything I have into these next two years, and this class will be no exception. I am entirely different person from the one who I was at the beginning of freshman year, so I can only imagine how much these next two years will change me. I am anxious, I am excited and I am ready. -Alex Kelly