Having graduated from San Diego State University this year, I look forward to the new experiences that post college life has to hold. Many of my friends are calling it adulthood but most remain in a sort of limbo between their existence as either students or adults. This summer felt remarkably similar to those of the recent past. Living in Mission/Pacific Beach, working as a wakeboard instructor at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center (as I have done since my freshman year), surfing and partying with friends; the feeling of intense change that I had at the graduation ceremony had diminished.

Now that summer has ended a sense of nostalgia has set in. At the beginning of September, I moved out of my house in Mission Beach that I shared with my childhood friend Andrew. Yesterday was my last day as a wakeboard instructor at the MBAC after over three years of employment. Seton, one of the best friends I've made in college, is travelling indefinitely through Europe. Luke, another one of my brothers in debauchery, leaves Wednesday to teach English in Japan. In a few months Cisco will be heading to China to learn Mandarin: and while some of my closest friends have left, many are still here and either jumping into their careers or returning to class.

And then there is me. Next week I leave for the Mexican Riviera to work on a cruise ship. I just sold my wakeboard, my truck is listed, and I'm working on getting rid of any of my other unnecessary belongings so I can pocket the cash and not worry about storing any of it at either of my newly divorced parents' houses.

Even though some of this change may seem daunting at times, those feelings are crushed by my excitement in what lies ahead. Having no obligations keeping me here, no stuff tying me down, and no next step engraved in stone, I am embracing a type of freedom that I have never experienced in my life!

Through the next few years I will be traveling and working for the sake of experience. I will return to southern California from time to time, and may ultimately end up here, but for now I am going to utilize this new found freedom, these relationships with people that have manifested through school, travel, and life to form new relationships, new stories, new experiences, and begin a new chapter.

Who knows what's next?