Butcho dunno whatcho got til it's gone.

My freshman year of high school was 9 years ago. NINE years ago, which means it's been 5 years since I graduated. All the memories seem so fresh in my mind, all the inside jokes still funny, yet at the same time it feels so far away.

I'm 23 now, just teetering on the edge into my mid twenties. I have a "normal" job, a college degree, a nice home, a boyfriend, a dog (and Gabe!)... my life is pretty sweet! But it's also ridden with that horrible word: RESPONSIBILITY. When did this happen? I have to pay bills? I have to actually KEEP this job? What?! ...I find myself sometimes longing to be back in high school just to be able to live one more day with no responsibilities, no pressure from the "real world," to actually have more time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I'm supposed to be grown up now, and let me tell you, I have NO IDEA what I want to do as far as a career.

I remember being 16, fully engulfed in my teenage goth angst, being told to cherish high school, that you will appreciate it when it's gone. HA! I laughed their faces. ME?! I would NEVER miss CampHELL and its horribleness! Well, I was wrong. I got to wake up every morning and go see my friends. I was out by 2ish and free to do whatever my heart desired. Yeah, I had a part time job, but there was no pressure for me to keep it and I quit when I hated it. Yeah, I had to get up at 6, but I got to learn... for FREE. That will never happen again. College costs money, and even non-credit courses make you pay to learn. I didn't have to worry about staying in touch with my friends because I knew I'd just see them the next day. And the best part of all, I HAD NO BILLS TO PAY. Yeah there was drama, but I would withstand it all again just to have those few REAL moments of freedom.

I'm a completely different person now from who I was when I walked the halls of Campbell. People who knew me then have a completely wrong view of me. If I could do it all again I would care less. I would speak my mind instead of staying quiet, which I started doing anyways in the later years. I would actually enjoy myself instead of pushing my life into adulthood like I so wanted. If I could only know then what I know now I would have never wanted to rush.

This saying is probably the most true statement of all time: You never know what you've got 'til it's gone. Cherish every little moment, no matter how insignificant it seems. Even though I'm struggling now, doesn't mean later on in my life I wont look back and say the same thing I'm saying now about high school. I think I'm actually going to make a real effort to appreciate things I have so I don't live my entire life with regrets.

Political

I was told to never get into a political debate with friends. Definitely some good advice, but sometimes you just want to stir things up a little bit.

It's no secret that I am one of those tree huggin' liberals. My parents raised me with a democratic mindset, and as I've grown older and done more research I have found that I am pleased with their decision. I'm not extremely political, and I do admit that I don't know a whole lot about politics, but I'm far from being uneducated. If I don't understand something political I research it. The majority of my political research began with this past election. When the candidates were announced for the democratic party I wanted to know what they were all about. My first choice was Al Gore, but unfortunately he wasn't running again. I love him, I love his policies and I think our world would be a better place with him in the white house. But since he wasn't running, Obama was my second choice.

I am a democrat for the following reasons:

1. I hate guns, well no, let me correct myself; I hate that HUMANS use guns. I understand that it is written in the constution that we have the right to bare arms, but god damn. How many people have to die from useless gun violence before we do something? I would support a complete ban of them all together, bust since that wont happen I support the decisions to make the laws more strict.

2. Abortion is MY choice... MINE. What I do with my own body is up to me to decide, not the government.

3. The rich should pay more in taxes than the poor. If you make $500,000 a year while I can barely make it to $30,000, I should not be paying the same amount in taxes as you.

4. Gay MARRIAGE should be legal. It is against the constitution to deny gay and lesbian people the right to marriage. Who the hell are you to get in the way of their happiness? Man and man, woman and woman, either way they are still HUMANS in love.

5. I have had enough of this war and think we should get our troops back home with their families, so we can decrease the amount of tax money going overseas and focus on our issues at home.... like our horrible economy.

The only thing I stand torn on is the death penalty. I feel like killing someone who killed someone else is the easy way out for them. They wont have to sit with themselves and think about what they did everyday, they don't have to be in constant fear of getting raped or shanked in prison... BUT they do get somewhat of a free ride in jail. I have to pay for them to eat and live, when most just deserve to live in a hole in the ground.

So all in all, I support almost all of the major viewpoints of the democratic party. I try to respect everyones views, but in the back of my head... I probably think you're wrong. Facebook has become a huge stage for debating it seems. I've included myself on some of them, but had to stay out of a few. We all would like to think that what we say might actually sway the other persons views, but most of the time, it's completely useless to debate at all. You're stuck in your ways just as I am stuck in mine. But sometimes, it's nice just to be heard.