And so it begins

Summer has finally arrived and with it, a feeling of hope has swept over me as I come barreling out of my quasi-depression (read: low point of my year) with a new vigor and optimistic outlook on life. Towards the semester's end, I had succumbed to a dreadful mindset that failure was going to overtake my life; this fear commandeered nearly every facet of my routine, causing me to become cynical, crass, illogical, and irreverent to my opportunity. Three events ripped me from my funk and brought me back to the real world.

First, my mother randomly emailed me a pep-talk email telling me how proud both of my parents were of my accomplishments and that through God, I could reach the fullest of my potential. My close friends proceeded to build me up and served as a strong foundation for me to find myself once again. They encouraged me to seek the Will of God first and then attempt to take on the day. With this three pronged support, I finally had the emotional ammunition to face finals head on.

Second, I spend the weekend between finals pit-stopping in Ft Worth with my best friend and his wife as they visited from Omaha where they are stationed in the Air Force. While there, Jordan informed me that both his wife and he will be deployed to the Middle East sometime later this year, news which really shook me. Neither he nor his wife were phased by the news and both seemed almost excited for the opportunity to serve with courage while I stood on the sideline worried about their safety. This put everything into perspective for me as I realized that I was scared of a systems final, 19 pages of math problems, while my best friend and his wife were anxiously waiting to fly into a war zone halfway across the world before their first anniversary. In spending those few days clouded by fear, I was wasting the vast educational opportunities that have been handed to me freely; instead of complaining about difficulties, I needed to be thankful for the challenges that allowed me to grow and learn something valuable in the process.

Finally, the test came and I spent the next 4 days obsessively refreshing the 'Grade Report' page hoping to catch a glimpse of my final grade. The final was posted early Friday morning but it told me nothing of the curve; I went to sleep like a child does on Christmas Eve, hoping to find a glorious A and 4.0 semester wrapped delicately under my tree the following morning. My alarm went off, I checked my email through my phone and saw "Stas Emelianov" as the sender, knowing that the curve was only a touch away. I anxiously scrolled down and immediately saw that my raw score fell within the generous 'A' range; Christmas came early for me this year and my goal of a 4.0 semester just prior to medical school applications was realized!

Honestly, this semester was not supposed to be an overly difficult one but something about my mentality and methods over the past four months transformed a should-be blow-off semester into a monstrosity that nearly got the best of me. But with the held of God, my family, and my friends, everything fell into place and my story had a happy ending!!

And so it begins... the next chapter, the final chapter to my collegiate career. I am gearing up for the application process and studying for my MCAT; my six week excursion to Europe begins in 4 days and will hopefully bring another definitional period to my life. Hopefully, being apart from my life here will allow me to grow in newer ways, to mature into something different and better than the me that gets on the plane Sunday evening.

On a side note, I will be continually and regularly posting blogs during my treks across the Pacific. Tentatively, we have a weekend trip of partying in Amsterdam and Bruges, a 4 day journey to Switzerland including touring Zürich and skydiving in Interloken near the Swiss Alps, hiking through Tuscany and the art museums of Florence, shopping in Milan, and sunbathing on the southern beaches of France near the French Riviera. After my class, I will be taking a train to Barcelona to meet Brennan for 5 days of beaches, clubs, museums, and relaxation in what I have been told is the most beautiful city in the world. I then fly to Athens (which I am most excited about) to stand in the forums of Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato, to visit the temples at Corinth and Athens where Paul began to spread the Gospel, to ponder philosophies near the Aegean and Adriatic Seas where so much of our current democratic history was born! This will really be the highlight of my college career!!

Go in Peace :)