coming home
I attended my 5 year homecoming celebration at queen’s u in kingston this past weekend. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but i sure got my nostalgia on.
I won’t bore with all the details, but it was fun. I never had much ‘spirit’ while i was there, never even went out on homecoming weekend, so really didn’t know what to do. Luckily the buddy i went up with did. As can be seen by the image above, we did the obligatory football game, and the halftime ‘parade’ around the field. This is where all the various graduating classes, from 1935 to 2000’s gather in their group and walk around the track. All the students jump the fence and pile onto the field to bang their jackets to the ground in ceremonial fashion. The school’s got lots of traditions, most of which are alien and strange to me.
After the game we basically bar hopped till the wee hours. Queens’s pub, toucan, grizzly grill, brass, and finally aj’s. This would have been a semi-typical friday while attending school, minus the football game and expensive appetizers and beer. Being back at all these places, the brass most of all, reminded me i’m getting older. Not like thats a big secret, but it was one of the things that really hit home. I kept looking at peoples grad classes on their jackets and saying “in 10 years, thats me”. Or “in 20 years, i’m gonna look like that?!?!”. It was all a little unsettling…
The other thing that became incredibly clear is that when i was at school i didn’t ‘make the most of it’. Basically i had my head buried very deeply in a bag of weed, 99 cent movies, my first dedicated internet connection, and doing well at school. Its hard to have regrets because i had a great time and everything worked out, but i kinda feel like i should have *some* regrets. And i guess i do. If i had partied and gone nuts in my first year i probably wouldn’t of had nearly the success i did have while i was there… but dang, there was a lot of fun to be had for first years, and i missed out on all of if basically because i was shy and had no balls. And really, this tradition continues today… it was kind of an eye opener.
So i’ll be back in another five years, thats the suggested schedule. We’ll see if i’ve learned anything by then. Hopefully i will:
- not have a bald spot
- be in decent shape
- go for things i want, and not waste opportunities