Four years! Four years are coming to an end, and along this journey I have met the most incredible people and shared some of my fondest memories with them. I have met some of my best friends and created unbreakable friendships; some I would even call my “brothers.”  While I reminisce over these last four years, I can’t help but smile because of the memories, the laughs, and the bonding with classmates and teachers. I am so thankful for my parents for spending their hard-earned money and making that sacrifice to send me to Carroll. I am forever grateful for my experience, although it wasn’t all easy. 

I have faced many hardships over these last four years, some of which have broken me down to my knees. This past year especially was one of the hardest years of my life, filled with depression and anger, not only towards myself but to God as well. November 8, 2019, was simply a fun night with friends, having fun and laughing with each other without a care in the world. Little did I or anyone else know we would be saying goodbye to one of our closest friends that night forever. Two day later I got the news, I was devastated, like God himself ripped my heart out of my chest. This put me in a dark place, a place I felt I couldn’t show because I was the happy guy, care free, and the one who made other people laugh. This ultimately made it worse, but as the months passed I tried just to forget about it. 

Next, I crashed my car, and that flooded everything back. I was angry at the world. I questioned God. I felt that everything in my life was going wrong, that the world was out to get me.

Friends started to notice. I took my anger out on them, my girlfriend, my parents, and everyone and anything. Yet these same people that told me I could talk to them, and that’s what I did. It was hard, very hard. I usually am a pretty contemptuous guy but I needed to do this. 

As the great Rocky Balboa said, “It ain’t about how you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” I mean,it’s true; it simply is; I was hit pretty hard this year. Yet through the friends I’ve made at Carroll, I kept moving forward. These events have shaped me into a stronger person, and I am grateful for the time I’ve spent with all of you. Miss you, buddy. LLL.