Now for the time-honored tradition

of Alumni weekend at Fand M, now this isn't any ol' alumni weekend, its my freaking 5th year college reunion. that means ive been out of college longer than ive ever was in it. holy crap that went quickly, its weird to think that ive spent more time away from the friendships i formed than i have actually spent in the day to day actions of building them. Most of post-college years I havent really lived by most of my friends that I made, Ive come back for a few month here and there, but mostly life has moved on. It's weird some of my best friends in college, are still my best friends now...and some friendships that I maintained and developed through the first few years post college now are distant memories where we struggle to even keep up a 10 minute conversation...our paths of life have taken us in so many different directions. For the first time in almost 10 years I will have a home that is not going to change, instead of me leaving town, it will be my friends that leave...I think this is going to be a nice, welcome change.
Thinking about what Ive done after college is kind of weird but plays out something like this...
Summer 2003- Rocked Orgo at Rutgers-Camden in prep work for grad school in Pharmacology/Physiology at Drexel College of Medicine...mostly drank (redbulls/vodka) at Top Dog in South Jersey...lived in my parents basement...put on about 15lbs...notorious text message breakup by panama city beach, fl girl...
Fall 2003- Started grad school, commuted to Drexel Med, started work on rabbits and cocaine...quit after 2 months..worked at Chili's, and as a boxboy at Joe's Discount Liqour...my BA from FandM got me on Wine detail..still living in my parents basement
Winter 2004- Jan 1st...infamous butt-to-nutt hotel experience. in typical jaffe fashion i lose my cell phone in a cab...we spend the new year in a parking lot of a closed strip joint in philly...the lost cellphone is a problem because the next morning i leave to drive down to my new job in beaufort, sc...working on an island full of free ranging rhesus macaques...make new friends in Savannah, where I spend most of my free time playing ultimate with SUDS...middle of February I go to the shelter for the 3rd time trying to find a dog that fits under my apartments regulations...find Sylvia with Sarah...immediately rename her Monkey Butt Biscuit... around this same time the Vibe enters the shop with a failing engine, as I wait for a new engine i get a replacement vibe (which is brand new)...with biscuit in tow we head to savannah upon which she basically pops a butt valve and starts exploding in the back seat of the rental...we quickly pull over in the parking lot of a baptist church and let her finish. go to a dollar store get some cleaning supplies, do the best that we can..and continue on the journey...
Spring/Summer 2004- the lost summer of 2004...pick up MRSA in my leg probably from laying out at a Nasty Nine's tournament in Athens, GA...it gets misdiagnosed several times...I fly home to Jersey the following weekend, got to the ER, still nothing, get dosed up for my flight back into Charleston, SC...dont remember much but I was pulled over on the ride back ~100am and let go with a warning. go to work the next day...the pain in my leg takes me to the doctor again...given some anti-bios...dont work...pain becomes excruciating.. go back to the doc who sends me to a specialist...go under emergency knee surgery that night...10 days in the hospital under a morphine haze...luckily i had an awesome caregiver...and the next month and half in home health care...start walking without a cast around august...easiest way to lose 25lbs in a month.
Fall 2004- apply to grad schools...get accepted to the University of Chicago for Fall 2005
Spring 2005- Turks and Caicos with the boys, burn the crap out of myself getting a base layer, but one of those classic trips, complete with my first game of Clue, although I dont think Shane tried very hard
Summer/Fall 2005- leave the south and move out to Chicago, with a quick pit stop at APS in Portland, absolutely fall in love with the town, and the people dressed up as monkey's protesting a conference where 75% of the talks were on conservation...gotta love ignorance. alas my year and half in chicago ...basically all over the place...an up and down experience...but got to play out my last year of eligibility with JUNK, experience the sounds of domestic abuse on the south side of chicago, and get in a car accident with someone who doesnt speak any english, have a license, or for that matter insurance...mostly because of my connection with ultimate I didnt make many friends my own age but my MA ended up being like a trip back to college accept I was 5 years older than everyone else, but only 6month more mature.
Winter/Spring 2006- Dad retires from Exxon-Mobil after 40 years, my research design goes to shit, and have to scrap it, redesign it, and run it in a month...lots of 400am night in the IMB building playing catchup and freaking out...i think i also borrowed and lost my advisor's "Snowbird" coffee mug...which she completely called me on after 4 months in the field...participated in the inaugural Chiditarod, and Urban Golf events
Summer 2006- fcking Rob's wedding...this one had more interesting stories than can publicly be shared, but it was crazy to say the least. moved in with my bro and his fiance at the end of august for the next 3 months...if you knew my bro and you knew me...you knew this was a bad idea...but it worked...well. i will always feel so lucky to have the opportunity to totally change our relationship and get to know each other.
Fall 2006- bro gets married, I finish the edits to my thesis in a tux 3 hours before his wedding, and graduate in the winter of '06.
Winter 2007- start working for Seiji doing landscaping and odd jobs, probably one of the most fun, laid back times ive had since...ever. as winter gets more severe i start working for don pablos (the great taste of mexico) and once my neighbor, Mr Riggins, injures himself I start driving him to and from work. unbelievably, one of the waiters from the D.P. steals my change...net worth 86 cents...the stole it from my apron during my break...now thats awesome
Spring 2007- get a few grad school interviews..Wash U, Florida, LSU, NAU... rock most of them, get rocked by Wash U...end up with a sweet offer from NAU, and decide to head to Flagstaff...in the mean time, I go to Paganello with an FandM reunion team composed of people that I helped teach the game of ultimate to. Im still amazed at how awesome they have become and how big the program has grown from 5 silly guys and 2 hardcore girls...to an A team, a B team, and a women's team. simply mind blowing...also head out to California for a stint watching bluebirds in the hills outside Monterey...a beautiful place i called home for almost 5 months. that leads me to here, flagstaff, where I dont know about tomorrow, or what friends ill make, and maintain here...but its been a good first year...with a few more to go