Tag: 2025

Goodbye 2025, It’s Been a Year

2025 has been a year. That’s the best way to describe it. Not all bad, not all good. A lot of fun times, a lot of not so fun times. While most of the year was good, I feel like I need to mention the bad as well. Every year has things we love and things we wish didn’t happen. That’s just how life is.

It’s been such a long year it’s hard to remember what exactly happened. One of the first things I remember doing was going to Colorado to ski. I went in early January. It was supposed to be a fun time, but everyone got norovirus and that kind of ruined the trip. We made the best of it, but it was definitely not easy.

What was supposed to be a fun week only got worse upon coming home. My mom informed us that my grandma had passed away. It happened the weekend after we got back. She was my last living grandparent. Thanksgiving and Christmas this year felt so different. I visited her grave not long after with two of my brothers and my sister after we played some pond hockey.

In May, I finally graduated from college. I got a degree in TV and movie production. It took me 15 years, but I finally did it. People like to make fun of me all the time for taking so long. It honestly doesn’t bother me. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do, and if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change a thing. The path I was given was exactly the path I needed to take.

Every concert I went to this year was amazing. Most notably was Linkin Park. I have waited so long to see them play. Chester’s death still hurts to this day. Seeing them play his songs and some new stuff healed my inner child a bit. Emily fits very well into the Linkin Park. While she struggled to sing Chester’s parts, she absolutely killed her parts. I’d go see them again in a heartbeat.

Towards the end of the year, in November, I strained a tendon in my arm playing hockey. That put me on the sidelines for about a month. It’s still not fully healed, but I can at least play hockey again. I’m just not taking any slap-shots until after I go to physical therapy in January. Not playing hockey for a month was awful. I missed playing it so much.

After years of wondering, I was also diagnosed with OCD and ADHD this year. I’ve suspected for a long time that I had them and it was finally confirmed. Does this change who I am? No. But now that I know, I can start getting help to manage it, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past few months. Progress has been slow, but there is progress. That’s all anyone can ask for.

With the year coming to a close, the only thing left is to talk about goals for next year. Next year I’m putting me first. I’m tired of doing things for everyone else just to be trash talked later or called lazy. I’m just going to do my thing and that’ll be that. I’ve also been looking for a new job. No luck so far, but something will hit eventually.

I also want to spend more time learning a foreign language. I do my daily Duolingo lesson, but I feel like I could do so much more to help myself learn. I grew up with English and I always thought it was so cool when people could switch between two languages. I want to be that person.

Finally, I want to read 15 books by the end of 2026. As of this post, I’ve read 11 for 2025. My goal was 12. I’m halfway done with a book and if I really get on it I could finish it before the new year. If I don’t finish it, that’s OK too. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could ever read 11 books in a year. I was never much of a reader, but as time has gone on, I’ve developed the desire to read. It’s calming and just a good way to wind down. It also keeps me off my phone which I also want to do more of.

Reflections on High School: What I Learned

Describe something you learned in high school.

My four years in high school were some of my least favorite years. I know for some people, it’s the greatest time ever. Well, I never had that feeling. I wasn’t popular or well liked. But now that I’ve been out of high school for about 15 years, I feel like I can look back on it and really talk about it. I don’t regret who I was then or who I am now. The things that happened then, helped shape me into who I am today.

My freshman year was, and always will be my favorite year of high school. The school I went to felt like home. I felt like I belonged there. My older brother spent all four years of high school there, too. I was familiar with it, and going somewhere else just wasn’t an option. Then they closed the school down at the end of my freshman year.

It crushed me, and to make a long story short, I eventually decided to go to a high school in the suburbs. Was it a good decision? No. Was it a bad decision? Also, no. It was a decision I made and then had to live with.

Some of those people were nice to me. Some of those people were not so nice to me. And some of them didn’t care about me either way. Personally, I never felt like I fit in anywhere while I was there. I played golf and baseball, and I had also joined the chess club, but I always felt like I was on the outside looking in.

I’m pretty sure my sophomore and junior year I ate lunch with just one other person. We were the “weird” ones. My senior year, I ate lunch with a few other people, mostly the “nerds.” I was OK with that because I was, and still am kind of a nerd.

During my junior year, another school closed down. A bunch of those kids came to where I was going. A lot of them were devastated, and I knew how they felt. I was one of the only ones who did. But what that also brought over was a whole new era of trouble.

I feel like I flew under the radar most of high school. I didn’t cause any problems. I tried to avoid drama. I did play sports, but I wasn’t a top athlete. My senior year was different. It’s like I got noticed all of a sudden. And once I got noticed, I was an easy target.

I was bullied quite a bit my senior year. I never said anything about it because I didn’t see the point. I knew I just had to finish my senior year and then I’d never have to see those people again. To this day I’ve only seen a handful of the people from my senior class, mostly by chance and not because I wanted to. The ones who treated me well will be greeted with respect. The others? I’m not sure. I guess we’ll see if I ever cross that bridge.

So, what did I learn from high school?

I learned that just because you’re popular in high school, it doesn’t mean anything. Sure people want to be like you, and they always want to be around you. But once you leave, no one cares.

I learned that even if you feel alone, you aren’t. There’s always someone else to talk to or hang around. There are more people like you than you think.

I learned that bullies prey on the weak. They always go after those smaller and weaker than them. They abuse others to feel like their lives are better than they are. Bullies are the weakest people.

I learned that a few years after high school you’re mostly forgotten. I was on the baseball team that went to State. We didn’t win State, but I could walk back into the school today and no one would know who I am. They wouldn’t care either.

I learned that being true to who you are is more important than anything else. Never give into peer pressure if it feels wrong. I avoided high school drinking and parties and I don’t regret it for a second.

I know my high school experience isn’t a one size fits all. Everyone experiences different things and situations. I truly did love my freshman year of high school. I was excited to be there. I was treated well. I felt like I belonged. After that, everything changed. But in a way, I’m kind of glad it happened. Without it, I don’t think I’d be the person I am today.