I’m Stoked.

(Reed’s song of the day: Africa, by Toto)

Hi all,

Well, this post is going to go pretty much nowhere. As a matter of fact, I was thinking I wasn’t going to write anything today, but I wanted to share something with you all.

I’m stoked.

I had a great week last week. I got to go back to my hometown and hang out with my parents, as well as my high school best friend (whom I haven’t seen in over a year). During that time I had the opportunity to speak to a few of my high school teachers and ask them about the path to becoming a teacher.

Being away from Los Angeles and the pressures I face here was awesome. Spending time with my best friend and my parents was even more awesome. Everything was so restful and quiet – I got to write, read, and play video games for like six hours a day and think of nothing.

Then I went back up to LA, taking my friend with me, and we met up with other friends for a birthday party. There were people there from all aspects of my life – my apartment cohort, my lab, my hometown, and my previous job – but the group was still small and intimate.

Sitting back, watching them joke with each other as though they’d been friends forever, I realized how blessed and lucky I am. And really, that’s what it is – I am so lucky to have the friends I have. It’s like my one talent in this life is to find really incredible people and bring them together.

I was afraid this summer was going to be lonely, and I’m sure in some ways it will be. But so far, all I’ve really felt is stoked to be in such contact with so many wonderful people. I need to write more Life Counselors posts because all of them deserve my sincerest gratitude.

That’s all I really wanted to say, other than that I have my next steps ready for my career path. I’m going to go into substitute teaching! So I’m sure I’ll have more life updates after getting started on that.

Overall, I’m just stoked. I hope you’re all doing as well as I am right now. If you’re not, see if you can spend some time with a friend or someone you love soon. They’re bound to cheer you up.

Yours, sappy as a maple tree,

-R.R. Buck