A Night to Remember

To the seniors,

August 17
Mel Paradise wrote:

Ok I know most of you will be home pretty much every weekend...but just to make things clear. I am trying to make sure we get EVERY ONE is home for Senior Night. It is 10/26/07 it starts at 7:30 but if I remember correctly pre game is like at 7 that night...so i think us college students should meet somewhere, have dinner, then go to the game...not too early b/c I think it would be sweet to see their faces when they come walking up the stands that we would be sitting in their seats! :-)

And that's how it began. Two months and almost three-hundred replies to seven separate Facebook threads later, the night that we had all been waiting for was finally here. The plot had become so elaborate, a multi-faceted plan of epic (that's right, epic) proportions, I am still amazed that it stayed as much of a secret as it did.
It's hard to wrap my head around that fact that it's over. Seeing something that we've been planning for so long, that I've spent so many sleepless nights worrying about, play out in front of my eyes was an amazing thing but incredibly bittersweet. It had come to mean more than just planning a 'surprise party'. For me, this night symbolized something much more, something I still have a hard time putting into words. Friendships like the ones we have must be rare. No one seems to understand why I will gladly set aside a Friday night to go back to my high school to watch the marching band and as hard as I try to rationalize it for people the thing it boils down to is this: you mean the the world to me. I wouldn't have missed this night for anything and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. All that I want is for you to be happy and seeing your faces tonight made up for every lost hour of sleep, every minute of planning and for the almost-unbearable anticipation. I hope you enjoyed as much as I did. Tonight I felt that old, familiar feeling, one that I haven't felt in nearly two months. Tonight I felt whole again and I want that thank you all for that.
Congratulations, again, on a fantastic senior show, on four years that you will never forget, and on making it this far, and thank you, again, for all that you've given me.

Yours always,
Jordan

Coming Home

I'm typically not one to use song lyrics in my posts but I heard this during the ride to Delaware and felt that it deserved inclusion:

Home
Chris Daughtry

I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.
And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.

I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from,
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

The miles are getting longer, it seems,
The closer I get to you.
I've not always been the best man or friend for you.
But your love remain true and I don't know why.
You always seem to give me another try.

So I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from,
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
I'm going home.

Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all,
And then some you don't want.
Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all, yeah.

BV's Homecoming was this weekend and while my Homecoming experience wasn't quite as emotional as it could have been (considering I've been to five other BV games this year) I was still very glad to be there. I've been wrestling with a certain amount of uneasiness about leaving campus on the weekends but I think I've pinned down an answer. One of the reasons I chose CCAD was because it was close to home; otherwise, why not Pittsburgh or Cleveland or Cincinnati? When your college is less than an hour from your hometown, why shouldn't you take advantage of the opportunity to see your friends, your family and sleep in your own bed? Sure, sure, some will argue that I'm not getting the real 'college experience,' and to that I say, fine. I'll live.

I live on campus Monday through Friday. I know what goes on. It's all fine-and-dandy, but I am the kind of person who needs an escape, downtime, quiet (not-to-mention something to look forward to each week). And so, I spend the weekends at home. This is not to say that I will always go home. As a matter of fact, the one weekend out the entire year that I would like to share with my BV friends (the weekend of Casey's, Anna's, Heidi's, Lee's, Davy's, Mark's, Zandra's, Emily's, Anita's and all the other's Senior Show) will be spent in Columbus, away from everyone. I am not happy. I wish there was some way I could change things.

Tonight, however, was a very happy night. I marched halftime, this time as a part of the BVHS Alumni Band it what was the last BV football game I will see this year. It's a a strange feeling being on the inside of the 'B', if you know what I mean. As always, it was great to get to talk with everyone and it was greater to be able to play in the stands again. I miss it so much. Nichole and Nathan came home from Bowling Green, Madeline from Baldwin-Wallace and Tawni from Mount Vernon Nazarene (Carie and Megan basically walked from OWU). It was so good to see them too. Something about being with 'the old crowd' makes everything (even the Everest-sized heap of homework waiting to be done) seem okay. Several notable people were, sadly, not there tonight, the first of which is Melissa. Going to school ten hours away from Ohio makes coming home a near impossibility but we all miss her and can't wait to see her home for Christmas, if not sooner. Homer and Helen were both at school because of big games the next day (football and soccer, respectively) and Davy is recovering from knee surgery and will, regrettably, be out-of-commission for the rest of marching season.

After the game (which BV won, by the way), we went to Pizza Hut and partook in the now-customary, post-game revelry. It is good to know that tradition has not died and that these happy memories will still made, even after we've all graduated. And as for tradition, the next time the 'B' revolves, Anna, Carie, Casey, David, Davy, Emily, Heidi, Lee, Madeline, Mark, Megan, Melissa, Nathan, Nichole, Tawni, Zandra and I may just be marching, side-by-side, in the center.

Current Status: Working

Sorry it's been forever. Things are teetering on the edge of insanity at this point and finding time to blog is difficult. The past few weeks have been good ones. I'm meeting people, which, about a month ago, I had no real desire to do. What I love about CCAD's Foundation Studies year is that everyone suffers through the same hellish projects. We can sympathize with each other when we mess up, rejoice with each other when we finish a particularly grueling assignment and struggle through the process together. It's strange how much bonding can be done over a few odd pieces of wood or a drawing of a barn.
Last week was a doozie. The workload took a dramatic surge upward and just at the time when I needed a little free time. My parents bought me tickets to see John Williams conduct the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the show was Wednesday. I wanted that night to be as stress-free as possible. This meant cramming two-days worth of work, an enormous 2D Design project, drawing assignment, 3D Design project and Digital Design/Type project into the span of one night. At one point I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my skull in protest but, after many, many hours of work, I finished and God was that feeling gratifying. The concert was amazing. I took my friend Ashley and we had a great time being nerds. The pizza we ordered afterward was some of the best tasting food I had ever ingested simply because I hadn't eaten since 8 o'clock that morning.
I spent the weekend in the peace and quiet of my own back yard. I love fall and sitting out beneath the changing trees. The peace of home is such a contrast to the non-stop action of school and, for me at least, it's a necessity. I watched Emily and the rest of the marching band compete in their first-ever band festival hosted by North Union High School. They looked so great and I am still very proud of them. As a group, they sounded great even while missing several key players (namely Casey who is currently recovering from a particularly nasty bout with mono and Davy who took a rather unpleasant spill during school and injured his knee. Guys, we're all thinking about you and hoping you get better soon).
Other than that, my life has consisted of working, eating and sleeping, one of which I am looking forward to doing now.

Note to those who are not attending school due to illness or immobilization and who wish to talk, I'm free every day from 11 o'clock to 12:15; IM me or call, whatever.

Miss you.