"if you want to sound wise, go to school. if you want to be wise, go to nature."

i've been reflecting a lot these past few days on how my year was. i wrote an entry about 2010 and everything i learned. i never posted it because i never finished writing it. it was hard for me to finish writing about how much i learned because i kept thinking of new things.

that last thing i wrote it that post was, "i think overall, i just... grew. i grew as a person." when i think back to this time last year, i was pretty happy. and even though i thought i had grown so much and was such a happy person, the beginning of 2010 was just the beginning of a journey. a journey of self discovery, learning, and love. i've never learned so much about life, myself and love before 2010.

i learned mostly that the best learning doesn't necessarily happen inside of a classroom. i've been in college for three semesters now. the first semester was actually really great. i went to all of my classes, got all a's and one b and did all of my homework. second semester started on the note, but i took on too many activities and learned that i needed to slow down. i passed all of my classes, but got b's, c's, and d's. third semester i took on... probably as many activities as second semester. i learned that sometimes you have to drops things you don't want to drop, but third semester i dropped something different... i ended up failing three out of the four of my classes. i got a c in photography even though i didn't even go to the last month or so of class. i learned what it feels like to be disappointed in myself.

i think the biggest thing i've learned though, can be summed up in this quote, "if you want to sound wise, go to school. if you want to be wise, go to nature." it's from a movie called "southbounders," which was actually pretty good if you want to watch it :D anyways, i don't necessarily want to "go to nature," but i think that school doesn't make you smart. sure, it helps you get a job once you graduate, it makes you look better to people who think school makes you look better... but it doesn't really mean anything...

my future has been on my mind a lot though. my 20 before 20 list has been running through my mind too. i don't think i'll accomplish everything on my list, but as of now i'm okay with it. i didn't really set truly realistic goals for myself, and since i wrote it, my priorities have changed.

so, for 2011, i have some goals in mind. mostly to march as much as possible, to get into better shape, to work a lot, and to continue on my journey of discovery. i want to keep learning. i want to keep loving.

who knows, maybe someday i'll turn to nature. it seems so nice to be able to just hike all day. i'm not a fan of peeing anywhere that's not a toilet, so it might not be such a great idea... hahahaha.