So today I write to you from lovely Lakeland, Florida, where I am spending my Thanksgiving holiday. Rather than make the 20 hour drive home to Connecticut I caught a ride with Jessi Lucas who graciously drove me to the home of my aunt and uncle and two cousins (those last two don’t actually live here, but they’re home for the holiday). We had a great turkey dinner yesterday afternoon. My aunt made an incredible pumpkin cheesecake for dessert too. It was a lot of fun. I’ve easily had the best two meals of the semester this week.

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Quote of the Day: “As a general rule you don’t want things exploding in your pants.” — Brett Cotten, professor of my Fundamentals of Investing and Financial Markets class, told the class a story of a bank robber putting his loot in his pants along with, unbeknownced to him at the time, an ink pack used to mark stolen bills which is triggered to explode after the thief has left the bank

Get ready America, because it’s time for another installment of the game that’s sweeping the nation…

Amused, Confused, or Worried!

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I realize that I haven’t talked much about what I’ve been doing lately, which is surprising because I had a really good week last week. Here’s all that I can remember.

Even though I wrote about my A-Team leader responsibilities coming to an end as of last Tuesday I did have a couple of left over things that needed to be taken care of before it was all said and done. The first thing was going to the SAC Budget Request Hearing. I had been to one of these just about a month earlier for an emergency request (of which we were given nothing). I had also been once before last fall, so I was feeling pretty confident in my abilities. And I can tell you that I really think we knocked ‘em dead (we being Jon, Ross, and myself). As much as I hate the university (and I still do, mind you) they were actually might do what I want them to do for once.

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I felt as though I was watching a tragic play.

The new champion, with his vast followers, led his troops into battle against a familiar invading foe. It had been years since these attackers had been victorious in these lands; so long that some of the warriors of today had yet to be born. The battle began, and the enemy struck first. Our champion looked to respond, but his army looked sluggish, confused, lost. This was the behavior we had come to expect from him on crusades away from his homeland, but here he had never been defeated.

Now with defeat looming, the generals summoned the old champion. Often jeered, often mocked, often taken off the front lines for his lack of consistency, the people cheered him when he took the field of battle. And he did not disappoint as he began to turn the tide. There was a spark of hope in the air. But there was only so much he could do. His defenses were caving; the enemy was closing in for the kill. With only one chance left the old champion, knowing this would be his final fight in front of his own people, hurled one final strike at the enemy…

And on his final pass, the final play of his final game on Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium, Chris Rix threw an interception.

Foreword: Forgive me if I over-dramatize this entry. I feel like yesterday was a big day, the end of a season in my life, and I want to express that. But I figure I’m going to come across sounding epic or sappy, so I apologize in advance.

I have been a student at Florida State University for two and one-half years. I have been on the Navigators’ Activities Team for two of those years and led it for one. Anyone who has been on it knows that it becomes a big part of your life. Anyone who has led it knows that, to an extent, it comes your life. The first year when I was in charge of logistics I thought of myself as little more than a cog in the system and somewhat expendable. This past year I have often been refered to as the Tyrant or the Evil Dictator, but regardless I felt important and valued. I’ve been trying to remember what it felt like to not be apart of this team. Even in those brief months of my first semester in college when I wasn’t a member I was being recuited, so the impact of the team was being felt even then. I feel like I can confidently say that there hasn’t been a day since I got here that the A-Team hasn’t been on my mind.

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