Love Story

Love Story is a 1970 movie starring Ryan O'Neal (the guy who later beat up Farrah Fawcett) and Ali McGraw. In its time, Love Story broke multiple box office records as single girls, like my mom, went to the theater and saw it multiple times. The critics have mixed feelings about the movie. You have the classic, tragic love story accompanied by the famous soundtrack from Henry Mancini that some feel is over the top. It suits me just fine, especially Ali McGraw. Her long brown hair, tanned skin, and great smile. Wow.

Watching a movie like that is liable to stir up feelings, and this one certainly did, especially with my time in Oxford now down to just a handful of days. My parents did some cleaning and packing today, only leaving the big stuff for Thursday's moveout day. I can't believe it's been 5 years since I entered Symmes Hall and began the best 5 years of my life up to this point. Every day, even the first seeing one of my roommates wearing capri pants, has been a life-changing experience. The write-ups, the movie nights, the sporting events, the formals, the nights uptown, the staff developments, and the prayer services all fall into that category. In the last 5 years, we've had the Bush-Gore election, 9/11 and the recession that followed, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2004 election, and locally the house fire on Main St. Sometimes it's easy to forget what is going on outside of Oxford.

I've grown so much as a person, both literally and figuratively. It's simply amazing thinking about what I did in my time here. From the community service work with Alpha Phi Omega to becoming an RA for 2.5 years, getting to be a role model for many young freshmen to helping start, then leading one of the biggest organizations on campus, I sometimes have to remind myself I was able to do all of this and appreciate everything about those times. I've gone from my quiet arrival as a freshman to someone that is recognized when my name is mentioned, in a good and respectful way. Then there are the people I got to see: Rudy Giuliani, John Major, Hurricane Carter, Jay Leno, Bill Cosby, Herman Boone, Ned Yoast, and Dave Chappelle among others. The football games at Michigan, Northwestern and here at Yager, getting to watch a Top 10 football team led by the eventual NFL Rookie of the Year. There are the guys I'm still close to from freshman year to the guys from this year in the Econ program. Then there are the girls haha. From the nervous moments freshman year to the girls I kissed sophomore year to the long-distance affair junior year to the relationship senior year to almost picking up a girl at the bar this year (Do you like sports?), the Miami women, what can you say?

There are so many moments, memories, experiences, etc. that I'll take away from these 5 years. I'm fully grateful for the good and the bad because it all happens for a reason, even though it's hard to figure out why the bad is actually good at the time. If I wrote down what I did in my 5 years here and shared it with people from my high school, they would have a hard time believing I did some of those things. The basics, the foundation that makes me who I am is never going to change, I'm always going to have certain values. But I've expanded on those during my time at Miami, allowing me to become a better person. So in a way, I've had my own Love Story with Miami, one that will continue to the day I die. I'll never be able to repay Miami for what it's given me. I was going to wait and be nostalgic later in the week, but I couldn't help myself.

I'm still debating whether or not I'm going to walk across the seal after graduation. I've walked around it so many times I don't know what'll happen if I walk across it. I never kissed anyone under the Upham Arch. That'll have to wait until I meet the girl I'm going to marry hopefully one day. I'd still like a piece of Reid Hall before it gets torn down; that would be nice to have.

Alright, what else is going on:

• I watched a couple minutes of the US Open of Competitive Eating. What a waste of time. When listening to the announcers, I couldn't help but laugh, especially when the commentator says things like, "Oh, there's the Kobyashi shoulder shake," or "She has great hand speed and great jaw breakers."
  
• The 3rd round of the Buick Open outside of Detroit saw Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh paired together. Tiger didn't come close to matching his 61 from yesterday, struggling to shoot 70, which is the equivalent of 77 anywhere else. Meanwhile, Vijay shot 29 on the front 9, ending with a ho-hum 63. In the Women's British Open, Jeong Jang leads Cristie Kerr and Annika Sorenstam by 5. Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie are tied for 4th, 6 behind. Finally, in the US Senior Open in Dayton, Craig Stadler and Loren Roberts are tied for the lead after NCR country club finally played harder.
• The most overrated day in sports is the Baseball Trading Day Deadline. Seriously, how many of these trades have made the difference in winning a World Series? It's just a day that helps break up the long and tortuous baseball season. If I hear one more thing about Manny Ramirez, I'm gonna puke.
• Astronomers seem to have discovered a 10th planet in our Solar System. The "planet" is outside of Pluto and is only 9 billion miles away. I guess all astronomers out there can get paid since they've actually done something. I can't say I've ever met an Astronomy major.

Ali McGraw.