This weekend, a bunch of my friends graduated from UCLA.  It’s a reminder of how long it’s been since I first crossed paths with them and I find it almost inconceivable that we’ve finally reached this point.  When I first met this group of friends, they were all first years living in my building.  I was already a 4th year, with a year and a half left before graduating.  It seemed like so long before they would ever graduate themselves, but now the time has come!  Has it really been two and a half years since I graduated?  While so much has happened, it all seemed to go by really quickly.  In a blink of an eye, here I am, well into my life as a working professional.

I still remember the carefree nights we spent chatting into the wee hours, or the stressful nights we spent studying into the wee hours!  There were plenty of meals to unite us and random gatherings in the hallway.  Ah, the hallways that drew us all together.  I really enjoyed the people I encountered just by living where I did, and while we’ve drifted apart since the time we were neighbors, they will always have a fond place in my heart and hopefully we continue to find time to meet up when we can.  It’s hard to believe that everyone is moving on to work or grad school (or trying for one or the other).  I still feel like I’m 21 and they’re all 18.  It seems that I might feel that way forever, no matter how our lives change and mature.

Thinking about those relationships also reminds me of the ones I built while studying abroad in England.  One of my best friends from that time has had an opportunity to visit me here and now we’re planning his next visit!  Has it really been two years since we’ve seen each other?  It definitely flew by before I knew what happened.  I guess it was because I managed to get a job a few months after he left and that has kept me pretty busy ever since.  I’m already coming up on a year and a half at my company!  That one feels like longer, since so much has happened, yet it still feels fast, since I can remember so much of how I felt when I was just starting.

Let’s not even talk about high school anymore.  Freshman year was ending a decade ago!  Boy does that make me feel old.  It’s just baffling how fresh those memories feel, even when so much has happened and a lot of time has gone by.  Our perceptions of time were never really very accurate, were they?