June 16, 2004

10 Years Gone

On June 2nd 1994 I graduated Camden County High School with a college preparatory degree. I remember not having any noble or wondrous thoughts about my future as I tossed my cap in the air that day. I was mostly thinking about my girlfriend and the hotel room we rented to have our own private celebration in.

So yesterday, as I was eating lunch with my campers I realized that it's been a while since I was in their shoes. When I was in high school I figured I'd have a good high-paying job, be married, and be a total yuppie asshole by this point in life. I'm still an asshole (although not of the yuppie variety) but not much else has gone to plan.

I mean times are hardly tough for me, but this isn't hardly what I imagined life would be. So, with that said, let's take the roller coaster ride of the highs and lows of the last ten years of my life.

September 1994-May 1995 - My first year of college at Georgia Southern University. I remember getting into a lot of fights with my girlfriend and into a couple of fights with a guy who wanted to fuck my girlfriend. On the whole, my first year of college blew. I got a D in freshman English for Christ's sake. Do I look like a D writer to you?

May 1995-January 1996 - Sat at home and did nothing but mooch of my parents. The highlight of my days was getting up at 11am to watch Jerry Springer. Seriously.

January 1996-September 1996 - I got a job working at Bono's BBQ and starting going to Georgia Military College. This was a good nine month stretch for me. I had some money in my pocket, I was kicking ass in school, and I got to hang out with my high school peeps who were doing the same thing.

September 1996-June 1997 - I got into the University of Georgia as a
sophomore transfer student. Things started off pretty well. I had some high school friends attending and I met several cool people. On the downside, I developed a crush on a girl that didn't go away even after she spurned me to date my friend, who was character assassinating me behind my back. So, the good times quickly went sour. I developed an affinity for drinking Night Train grape wine and crying myself to sleep. By the way, this was probably my best year of college.

September 1997-June 1998 - This was the year that truly made me the bitter man I am today. Like the previous Fall, things started out pretty well. In fact, everything was decent until I got my first job at Subway for a little extra cash. On my third night of work, a car came over the wall my car was parked against and fell on top of it.  Goodbye car! From there I racked up a sizeable amount of credit card debt trying to purchase a new car, I put on about 25 pounds of drinking fat, and slide into what some would call depression. By the way, I'm still in school making straight C's in all my classes. Which was pretty sad, seeing that I'm the smartest person I know.

September 1998 - May 1999 - This was my last full year of college. At this point I have settled in on a Magazine Journalism major because nothing else even remotely appealed to me. Somehow, I start dating the girl I had a crush on two years before in what was probably the most dysfunctional relationship I've been in. She's a nice girl, but just not a match. I was mostly bummed out during this period because of my work and class schedule. The car I bought to replace the previous car blew up (literally), so I went without personal transportation for a while. Most of my friends graduated as well.

June 1999 - December 1999 - My girlfriend at the time dumped me, I somehow graduated college, and I went home and slept for three straight days.

January 2000-May 2000 - I moved to Utah to stay with my buddy Jeff and "dry out" so to speak. Utah was nice and really exactly what I needed to get away from things.

May 2000-July 2000 - After drying out, but getting homesick, I moved to Valdosta, Georgia to stay with my friends Gary and Heidi. After two months of being broke and not finding a job, I moved back to Athens.

July 2000 - January 2001 - I got another job at Subway (this time as a manager) to start my second tour of duty in Athens. It sucked, but the owners were selfish bitches who we robbed blind. After Christmas I had enough and quit without the prospect of finding another job. This of course I blame solely on our President, because since he took office, the surplus of quality jobs has vanished. On a side note, I've been cognitively aware of two Republican Presidents, and both of them fucked the economy. I'm sure there have been good reasons, but I'm just saying. I did start dating a girl with children at this time, so I think I starting to gain maturity or something.

January 2001- September 2001 - I was mostly broker during this period because I was working part-time for my friend Jeff. I was still dating the woman with kids. However, On September 10th I started my new job at the University. The next day of course terror struck America and we've been transfixed ever since by the threat of it. Fact is, four days later 1300 Indians died in a mudslide. Moral is, shit happens, manmade or not. Stop running around like a bunch of chicken shits. When it's your time, it's your time.

September 2001 - Present - Not much has changed over the last few years, which is probably the most disturbing thing to me. I still have the same job, same roommates, and same car. In fact, other than changing girlfriends, all that has happened is that I've gotten a little bit older. I suppose it's time to point myself in a new direction and get my wheels turning. I hate to think that I'll still be where I'm at when I'm 30. I'd be old and decrepit.

In a few weeks I'll be going to my 10-year reunion and I'll get to see how everyone else turned out. I bet that I'll still be better off than most of them. At least I still have my looks.

This weekend is the annual Athfest concert series in Athens. There will be about 100 different bands performing on the outside and inside stages throughout downtown. It's a big event and a good time. I'll be sure to cover the events as they unfold.

Observation of the week - many of my summer campers, who range in age from 10-14, carry cell phones around. That just blows me away.

Have a good week and I'll talk to you all later. If you like, you can email me at jacsv76@hotmail.com.

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