Cleveland: The Final Frontier

Hello again friends, followers, casual blog enthusiast, etc.,

Even though I am currently being berated about my decision to write a blog in the first place (they're jealous I have a ton of time on my hands while they work towards getting into medical fields), I have decided to brighten all of your days by writing an extra post for the day. You can thank me later. I realize this is only my second post, but if you made it this far, I commend you. Studies show 80% of blogs fail after the first post. In addition, 100% of statistics I will use in the blog are completely made up on the spot. I sincerely hope that most of you who have read the first post "The move-in process", I thoroughly hope you enjoyed it and found something that you could related to.

I'd like to start out this second post by reminding you all that I have had some rough friendships in the past. While I still talk to my friends back home, and wouldn't want to lose them no matter how much they may piss me off, they weren't the best. Whether I contributed to that fact or not remains to be seen, but bottom line, my summer of senior year was rough. It consisted of long work days at the park, and many confusing nights playing Xbox in my basement by myself. Looking back on it, I wouldn't change how it went because it got me that much more excited to go to college. So while everyone was going through the graduation circuit, crying like they'll never see the people again, I was counting down the days.

Something funny happens when you hang out with the same people every day for nine years and your friend group rapidly expands. Sometimes, you get left in the dust, having to fend for yourself in the world of takeout Coney. For those of you reading this and know what that is, you probably feel for me right now. As you should. It's terrible. Sometimes unintentionally, your friends leave you out of things because they assume that you would not want to go. Other times, they will ask you to go so you can be the DD. Either way, being left out isn't fun, and it's a feeling I had become accustomed to.

Now that I'm off my soapbox, I can move on.

One day after getting in a fight on the phone with my mom, I decided I did not want to go home for Thanksgiving. Brandon, thinking I was being serious, told his mom and my invitation to celebrate Thanksgiving at their house came in the form of a hand written later a few days later. At this point, I felt like I couldn't say no. A couple weeks before going there for Thanksgiving we decided to go so I could meet his family and figure out what I wanted to see on the table during dinner. I am really not picky, so I just said a couple common things I knew they'd have and went on with the mini trip anyways. This is when I met some of the greatest group of new friends I could have.

I had never been to Cleveland before, but from what I heard, it wasn't great. Although, what else was I going to hear form a big group of people who had literally never lived anywhere else other than the little bubble that is the Metro Detroit area. Knowing this, I came in with an open mind. What I found out, was that I may have belonged in Cleveland the whole time. Everything about the city (or the parts I have seen up to this day) I love. The area is so much more diverse, certain things carry much more weight than they did at home. Also Sheetz, can't forget about Sheetz. If you don't know what it is, look it up and again, thank me later.

Even little things like the interest in basketball at all levels appealed to me. It felt like this was the place I was meant to grow up in. It was very interesting to see just how some people were much nicer. I told me new friends about some of the things that had gone on in my hometown over the previous year, not only with myself, but as the city as a whole. They stood and listened with amazement as I told tales of ex girlfriends and friends alike. I felt like an old man rambling on about my past to my ever interested grandchildren. The genuine interest they took in my life after knowing me all of a day was comforting. I thought back to what would've happened if I did the same thing back home. I can tell you one thing, it wouldn't have been the same thing.

Through a complete mistake of showing up at subway and forgetting my money and why I even went there in the first place, I had met my best friend, and their group of friends. Those friends I also have the pleasure of calling my friends as well. I have gone to Cleveland many more times since that first time. I go out with just people I met not more than a few months ago. For some reason to me that is still incredibly shocking. Thinking back that at that time, four months ago, I didn't even know these people existed, and now they're people I couldn't live without.

There is one person I have yet to meet in person. Doodle. No, that is not his real name. His real name is Michael, but even I don't ever call him that. Doodle is an interesting fellow. The only reason we met is because I heard someone talking about cartoons to Charlie over PS4. Anyone who knows me well enough, knows I still watch cartoons avidly. This is not the most common thing to do among 19 year old college students, but regardless of your opinions on it, its what I do. With this being the case, I was surprised that someone else actually made a reference to one of my favorite cartoons, Clarence. You know what they say (they meaning pretty much me and Doodle), they best friendships are the ones that start over cartoons. I will surly actually meet him the next time I go down to Cleveland.

For now, I am going to grind out the rest of this school year and start my internship for the summer, waiting for my next opportunity to visit "Cleveland: The Final Frontier."