Lord of the Rings and VPSA

Recently, I was able to obtain the Lord of the Rings Trilogy from that never-ending gift machine that we call Amazon.  After watching them, I was able to work references from Lord of the Rings into a presentation and a speech.  You should be proud of me.

My man crush is Aragorn.  Now you know.

I feel ashamed to tell you that I had nearly forgotten how greatly enjoyable these movies are.  I also enjoy the books that Tolkien so masterfully wrote.  So don't get the notion that I completely ignore the books.  The Lord of the Rings is not for the faint of heart.  It's a tale of battles, of love, and of sacrifice.  It is a story of bravery, forgiveness, and suffering.  It is full of adventures, feasting, and tales that will make you shiver in anticipation.  It is a story of friendship that is being forged in the fire.  And it is a tale of evil that is overcome.

What really stood out to me, while watching the Trilogy, was friendship.  And how important it is.  With my dad being in the military, we move alot more than the average American family does.  And friendship has kept me sane.  We have been able to visit amazing places from the beaches of Hawaii to the vineyards of France, and have been able to make fantastic friends.  But whenever we move, it definitely hurts.  We build up relationships, but then people move. Although the relationship is still there, it doesn't seem to be the same.

But, there is this amazing thing called Veritas Press Scholars Academy.  I've done multiple posts about it, and my fellow classmates have tolerated some of my odd requests.  One of these times was when I asked them for a picture of their first day back to school this year.  This is the post that I was able to put together from those pictures.  These classmates, my friends, are spread throughout the entire world.  For the past three and a half years I lived in Germany, normally thousands of miles away from my friends, who lived in the USA.  But that has not stopped us.  We have many ways of communicating.  Carrier pigeons, owls, and floo powder are no exception.

Every year, at the end of the year, my school puts on the End of the Year Gathering.  Where students basically hangout with each other for an entire week and have the best times of their lives.  Everytime I see pictures from this week of fun (trust me, the whole world knows when there is a gathering of VPSA students) my heart aches.  I yearn to see them.  Now, this dream is slowly becoming a reality, being back in the states.  I will walk if I have to to see them.

Are these friends really worth it?  You may ask. You've never seen them.. so what's the big deal?  My answer would be.  They are worth it and more.  We are so used to communicating through the interwebs, so that when I was in the processing of moving, they were there like always.  Listening to my stories of travel or just being there for me when I was homesick.  There was an in-between time, where we were visiting family, and we didn't have a place to call home.  But, once again, my friends from my online school were there to talk to me.  I actually have been to meet a few of them, and that makes me smile everytime I think of being able to meet the rest of them in person.

Thank you.  Thank you for all the late nights of studying, skyping, and building friendships that others shake their heads and think that we are crazy.  They're crazy.  You all are amazing.  I'm looking forward to rocking the hizza with you all.