I grew up

Lots of people are talking about the new decade and all that has happened in the old decade. After reading my sister's blog I started thinking "Certainly not that much has happened to me in the past decade. I mean, the past couple of years, yeah, but other than that?" So I decided to actually figure out what had happened.

The year 2000 started with the last half of fourth grade. Honestly, I really don't even remember that much. It was an election year though, the first election I ever followed (Bush vs. Gore). Other than that, there's not much I even remember. The next several years are like that. 9/11 was significant, but not specifically to me. The Olympics in SLC. Through these years I was a quiet, shy little boy. I remember Sheena bringing her friends to the house and thinking how huge they were and that there's no way I would ever be big like that. At some point though I did become big(ish, I still don't really feel like a "big person").

In 8th grade (2003-04) I started going to Provo once a week for Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra (UVYSO). My first tour with them was the '04 Los Angeles tour. I climbed on the bus in Delta and only knew one person. She had a seat at the front of the bus, I got stuck in the back. Kinda hard for a shy kid, but someone reached out to me and really brought me out of my shell. For the next few years I would go talk to anyone, I didn't care. Life was good. Lauren (the one who included me) and I were good friends for years.

The next major event was August '05. Justine had a tragic accident which took her life. This is when I learned that real men do cry from time to time, over certain things. I had experienced death before, but it was always an elderly person who had lived a full life. This time it was a close personal friend, much different. About a month later, another friend, Danielle, also had a fatal accident. I wasn't as close with her, but about a week before she died Danielle came up to me and reminded me of a promise I had made her. I never got to fulfill that promise, and it has hurt me ever since. Two and a half months later, another friend from UVYSO missed practice. The next week when I asked her where she had been I learned that she had gone anorexic- hadn't eaten anything for a month- and tried to and almost succeeded in killing herself by overdosing on her sister's medication. This was a dark time in my life and it took me until just this past summer to be truly happy again. I receded back into my shell, didn't want to have anything to do with anyone and built up walls to keep people out. My logic was that if I never got close to anyone, I would never be hurt like that again. That is not true, and even if it was I have since learned that even if you aren't hurt, you will still not be happy unless you lead a happy life. Luckily, I had a friend who was willing to take the time to break through the walls I had built up. Better yet, rather than trying to force me to instantly be more social, she showed me the way to take the walls down for myself. It was a long process, and is sometimes still a struggle, but its worth. I owe much of who I am to that friend and will be forever grateful.

But it wasn't all bad. Somewhere along the way I got a postcard from USMA asking me to go to a "briefing" at the University of Utah. It sounded interesting so I made my parents drive me up and attend. My eyes were opened to a whole new opportunity that I had never before considered. In the spring of '07 I started my application. By February (I believe) of the following year the application was finished and it became a waiting game. I was offered a full tuition ROTC scholarship to BYU, as well as a full tuition academic scholarship which combined would have meant almost free school there as well. Then Sen. Hatch's office called me one day, catching me in between classes, and read me an email they had received stating that I was to be extended an appointment to the academy.

So much has changed in the past two years that I am not even going to attempt to talk about it all. Cadet Basic Training was miserable but looking back I actually miss those days. Plebe year, Buckner, AMT, so much growth. It is hard to believe that now I am a "big person". I have finished high school and a year and a half of college. My friends are all gone on missions and I will soon be starting my papers to join them. The past decade may not have had that many events that impacted me specifically but they were huge; their impact eternal. 10 years is a long time, and somewhere along the way it happened: I grew up.