Kodak moment.

The closer we come to Christmas, the more I realize: one year from now, I'll be on my own. One year from now, I'll be beyond this stage of my life.

I'll miss it, and I know that. I'll miss coming in from day to day and seeing the same people, none of whom I hate, and having the honor of learning with them, working with them, talking with them, and knowing them. It's still there, now, but it won't be for much longer. I'm determined not to cling to it.

I think of who I'll still be in touch with in a year, and in all honesty, I can count them on my fingers and still have a couple to spare. Even now, people who I would have once called "best friends" are just "friends" in my mind. Dr. Immel was right--I don't really have many ties to these people anymore. They're friends, but they're separate from myself, and myself is what I'm working on right now.

I'm taking a mental snapshot of this awkward stage, because I treasure it. I'm at a place where I'm still cushioned by what I have been for the last four years, this safe environment, but I realize that it'll all be gone in a mere matter of months, and things will be totally different in a year. I've had stages like this before, like moving across the country, but for the first time, this is my time. This is under my control. This is my life I'm working toward.

It feels so good.

While I love all of my friends, I'm sure we'll fade away from each other. We'll always be connected, and maybe later in life we'll be super close again; but for now, there's only a few of you that will truly be with me in the foreseeable future. In advance, I wish you all good luck, and I hope you're in the same boat I am, where you're realizing the importance of yourself, and how much bigger we will become.

I hope you get where you want to go.