As I look back at 2015, it doesn't exactly make me happy. Sure parts of it do, but most of it I can leave behind and hopefully forget all about it. And I know people say "you must learn from your mistakes", but honestly I was just too stupid to do something that I should have. I wasn't as focused as I should have been. In fact, I wasn't focused at all. I thought I could do what I wanted when I wanted and not think about the consequences of my actions. And to be honest, once reality hit, it hit me hard. And I thought I would never recover from it. So here is my year in review:

The early months were met with some excitement. I had recently ended things with a girl who I thought things would have definitely gone differently with. So there was that. I guess you could say we had our own ways for going about things. So that was my love life in a nutshell. I have yet to find any other luck. I'm too hard-headed. I speak without thinking, and I always want things done my way. These are things that I am trying to work on throughout this year. Hopefully that helps. But this isn't all about my lack of a love-life. I had some new experiences that needed time getting used to.

For instance, I had a roommate again, hadn't really had one of those in a while. I moved back into my fraternity house. Could not imagine my college experience without living there. I was in my senior capstone class as a junior with my friend, Laura. We also had Directing class together with a few of our other friends , Matt and Sarah. I ended up "ghosting" in that class. I was such an idiot. I lost sight of everything I had worked for the semester before. I let myself and everyone that had believed in me down. I couldn't be more ashamed.

The spring months were just as bad as the winter months. All I wanted to do was sit in my room, watch TV shows and movies, run, or workout. Now, the last two weren't horrible, but they were when I decided to do that over going to classes. I missed so much, I wasn't prepared for any projects. I figured I didn't need anyone's help. I thought I could do everything on my own. As I was much smarter that everyone else. Once again, that was not the case. In all, my first four months of the year did not go according to plan. But since I didn't have any plans on how I was going to attack the year, I decided to wing it and I ended up lost. I was a shell of what I had worked so hard to become.

During the summer, I had a chance to unwind. I turned 22 and I sang Taylor Swift's 22 at karaoke night under the name "Dragon." I got a job mowing lawns. Go ahead, make your jokes. Doesn't bother me. I made new friends. I worked with some interesting guys. Cam and Pav kept me on my toes everyday. My cousin Ryan also offered me a job painting for his business. So I took that up when I wasn't mowing lawns.

Then, the hall coordinator for my church called me to bartend weddings and other parties. So I did that on the weekends. In all, I clearly worked my a** off because I knew It would pay dividends. Although, every paycheck I received went straight to my savings account as per my mother. But hey, I still have to pay for my schooling.

Then in the middle of the summer, I received a letter. I found out that due to my consistently low GPA, my financial aid had been taken away. I finally had to face the music. The furthering of my education was in jeopardy and my family couldn't afford to send me back to school, nor were they willing to take out any more loans. Throughout the summer I was, for lack of a better word, forced to weigh my options of leaving school all together, or transferring home to the community college, or whoever would even take me.

Though the scare of not being able to attain my degree had come, I found out that I could still get my financial aid back. All I had to do was write a letter to the school, explaining why I had tried skating by, doing the bare minimum. I then had to explain what my plan of action was if I regained financial aid. I wrote my letter and waited with anticipation. With every day that passed my anxiety grew because I had yet to hear back from the school about their decision. But alas, my prayers had been answered and my financial aid was reinstated.

Moving forward, amidst all of the happenings in my life to that point, I maintained a positive attitude. I quit drinking for a solid three months. I was in the gym regularly, and I was training for my race that was coming up on August 24th. The Crim Fesitval of Races. Every year, Flint holds a festival of races, beginning with the 10-mile race and ending with the 1-mile race. My dad and I have run these races every year together..... Well, he walks. I run. This was my 6th race, to his eigth in a row. But every year I set a new PR. And this year, I dropped another 10 seconds off my time. I went from running a 9 minute/mile, to an 8:30 minute/mile. So I raced well. We then decided to run the Detroit International Half-Marathon. More about that later. To end my summer I made great money, I lost 15 lbs, and I was going back to school to finish what I had started.

First semester of senior had come and I was ready to face my challenges head on. I moved back in to my fraternity house and remained more focused than I had ever been. I set myself up for success. There were times where I so badly wanted to give up. But then I remembered where I had come from and how far I had climbed to get back into the light.

Those memories of hitting the bottom helped me run the half-marathon, that had weighed heavily on my mind for the last two months. Upon completion of my goal, I had to keep that drive and focus that kept me going leading up to that race. I finished the semester strong, but not as strong as I could have. But it was miles better than what I ended the last semester with. And as I go forward into this my final semester of school, I can only look at it and say, "bring it on".

To end, I would like to thank some people. Thank you to my immediate family and my extended family for your undying support, love, and prayers. Thank you to my friend Bianca for keeping me entertained and sane all summer. You taught me to play dominoes and for that I am grateful. Thank you to your friends, that became my friends. I am very happy to have met you all. Thank you to my friends and fraternity brothers, for not giving up on me when you could have easily done so. Thank you 2015 for bringing me back to reality. I look forward to the new opportunities that 2016 brings.