While Waiting...

As I await with formality my name on the elusive graduation list, here are the things I wondered as September went along.

1) The Red Sox on a slump. September hasn't been kind for the Fenway sluggers, who now lost 12 of 16 in September and slipped behind the Yankees in the AL East race, while their closest pursuers in the Wildcard, the Rays, have sneaked a little closer. Pitching and defense hasn't been good while their offense has deserted them.

2) The NFL season got underway and the Patriots won their first game of the season. The three-time Super Bowl champs got a big boost of sorts by signing the ever-controversial Chad Ochocinco, but the question is whether the Patriots could carry the momentum of earning the top seed in the NFC last year and translate them to a fourth Super Bowl triumph this year.

3) The NBA pre-season is three weeks away but the lockout persists. Unless the players and the league agree to a new CBA, no one will see LeBron, KG, Dirk, Kobe, Durant or anybody for that matter, play this season.

4) The Bruins seek a back-to-back Stanley Cup title win, something not achieved since the Red Wings did it 13 years ago. Unlike last year's Blackhawks, whose roster was decimated by a mass exodus of players, the Bruins, save for the retirement of Mark Recchi and the free-agent departures of Tomas Kaberle and Michael Ryder, remain intact, which makes them a contender for the cup. If only the other teams such as the Capitals, Penguins, Sharks and even the Canucks would make life difficult for Boston to win the cup, this is definitely no easy path for the gold and black.

As Green Day sings, "Wake Me Up When September Ends", this is definitely a quiet month for me, but at least there is some noise to wake up my stimuli.

No More First Days of Class

It seems so repetitive to hear the phrase 'first day of class.' I've gotten used to it since the day I came to college. I've seen a lot of things on the first day, from meeting new (or recurrent) professors, receiving the syllabus to acquainting and meeting new friends. Every first day you felt like you're still new to school. Coming from a long, or sometimes short vacation, your mind isn't used to starting over. It tells you that you want more fun. First day is sometimes a disease that you need to get over with, but this eventually evolves into an antibody when you help cope up with freshly-minted lessons and school work.

Every late May, early September and early January, it's always a repetitive cycle; not wanting to go to school an allergy for the many. That goes on for three, four or maybe five years. But once the fulfillment of finishing a degree is secured, you go on free and able. Now I no longer am afflicted with this first day allergy. As I'm about to earn my diploma, I continue to reflect on what has happened over the last four years. And this is just the first of some.