Graduation

So tomorrow is graduation. It's ridiculous how quickly time passed. I can honestly remember my first day at Oxford like it were yesterday. Well not all of it but I remember coming home exhausted and having to take a nap. And then the next five years are a blur in my memory. Junior year was painfully long and so was much of this year but it's all over. I think many people will agree that it's unexpectedly a bittersweet feeling. As close as I've felt to my classmates, I was never really fond of Oxford and wanted to move on to college as soon as possible but I think I will actually miss this place. For me, the only thing that matters now about my past six years is the people I've met. I'm going to try hard to keep in touch with these people. Talking to my old friends and hearing what they are up to is one of the few things that gets me excited.

Let's see, senior week was pretty fun. At Sunset, it was nice to hear from a lot of people during open mic, and nice to hear that most of them leave with positive memories of Oxford. Thanks to Boawen, Tara, and Charlie for the letters - I will keep those in a safe place. At Senior Recess, I relived my semi-childhood days with a game of Jailbreak. I never knew a volleyball court is the perfect arena for this. The net is just high enough that you can reach up and drop the ball but it also allows the opposing player enough time to get it if he's quick enough. And at Senior Drive-In, I played some basketball with the guys. Highlights included me blocking Dho and Will Nguyen, Kristin actually joining us for a game, and then a halfcourt shootout with very very large stakes that was actually never agreed upon (not consensual). Anyway good opportunities to bond with fellow classmates.

This just occurred to me. Me leaving Oxford with an overall positive impression feels similar to forgiving someone. On paper, my experience at Oxford isn't probably all that great. But just as you inevitably forgive your friend's bitchass behavior, you somehow learn to soften and let things pass, perhaps even feel good about it. I am not too sure if this coping mechanism is a good thing. On one hand, it is helpful to not dwell on bad memories and stagnant relationships. But on the other, you are lying to yourself. You reinterpret your experiences with a bias, a bias not simply resulting from the fact that you are living your life and thus tend to look at things a certain way, but a bias intended to make good come out of bad. What your friend did is wrong, and you have every right to spurn them. It is your friend who should feel bad about the whole situation, not you. But you end up forgiving the person anyway whether it takes days, months, or years. Justice is not served. But oh well, justice is rarely served anyway.