What does it mean to really come full circle? Does it mean that you realize your meaning/your calling/your vocation? Does it mean that you are in a position of leadership or authority after having been on the other side? Does it mean that you are coming around to realizing things that you haven’t seen before? I’d say yes to each of those ideas.
By and large, one of my biggest regrets lately has been not having the time to blog. It’s not because I haven’t taken the time to – I have tried and tried and have numerous blog post drafts in my dashboard that will hopefully see the light of day…some day. But it’s officially April which at Virginia Tech means a ton of programming, a ton of work, a ton of meetings, and, well….just a ton of everything.
With all of that, my regret of not having time to blog really strikes me because I want to be able to use this blog as a journal. I want to be able to look back on every single post and remember a flow. Needless to say the end of March 2013 into the current month will be spotty…but I’ll just have to lean on my own brain for recalling that.
But anyways – to the point of this blog post. The idea, “full circle” is in quotation marks as the subject for this post, because this evening I had a true…realization.
Today wasn’t the first time that I realized how fortunate I am. I am at the greatest university in the world, studying something that I find so interesting, around people that I absolutely love, in a community that I’m constantly learning about and think is a fantastic blend of amazing. But even after having been for four full years now, I’m still learning so much more….and realizing that I really am in the right place right now.
Day in and day out I have studies that I need to focus on – papers to write, book chapters to read, etc., the typical Graduate School thing. But truth be told, I am constantly realizing that my best and most memorable moments come outside of the classroom. Whether it’s the two adult students from Florida that I gave a Graduate School tour to last week, or the high school seniors that I got to entertain during high-school Spring Break as a Hokie Ambassador, or the activities I do in my spare time like supporting entrepreneurship at Virginia Tech. Or maybe it’s even what I get paid for – mentoring my wonderful McNair Scholars.
In the end, there are certainly not enough hours in the day but I know that if I get everything I need to get done the rest will fall into place. I am constantly putting others needs before my own and not because I want to be altruistic or serve others but because I’m unhappy if I”m not doing that.
In about one week, I’ll be in Harrisonburg speaking at the “You Can Change the World Symposium.” I’ve made a few notes on what I will say to these students but I’m realizing more and more that I’m completely obsessed with students because they really do have the power to change the world. And that is just a wonderful, wonderful thing to realize as you come full circle.
