Howdy!

Now that I’m a college graduate about to take the next big step of independence, I decided it’d be a good time to get into a tradition of writing an annual update for friends and family.  For now, it’ll just be in the form of a blog post…maybe in the future it’ll become something a bit more formal like an actual letter.

I’ve been a college graduate for three days now, and I can’t say anything feels very different.  The ceremony was fun, since I graduated with a bunch of friends from class and my time working at Hewlett-Packard, as well as one of my roommates.  And the convocation was particularly memorable since President Bush was the speaker.  I’m not a huge fan of a lot of what he’s done as president, but it was an honor to have him there and he gave an excellent speech.  Another memorable part of the end of the semester was the highly unusual snowfall that hit College Station on the last day of finals.  It was the perfect conclusion to the semester, not to mention my time at college, and I got some good pictures as I explored campus with one of my roommates.

The last month of school was kind of surreal as it sunk in that my time as a student was ending and I’ll no longer be living in College Station with the friends I’ve come to love.  I certainly intend to stay in touch with them, and visit while they’re still around, but I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic as I packed up everything and left my room at the house empty.  That said, I am excited to move into my own place and work full-time.  Classes at A&M haven’t been bad, but I find that I learn and accomplish much more when I know I’m actually producing something worthwhile.  And I believe National Instruments will be a great place to do that.  From what I’ve witnessed in my two internships, the environment on my team is fun, encouraging, relaxed and challenging without being too stressful.  I can’t say how long I will ultimately stay at National Instruments, but I am convinced that it’s the right place for me now, especially given the weakness in so many parts of the economy.

On that note, I found out today that my start date will be later than originally planned.  My boss has assured me that my offer still stands and that I should definitely still be getting a job with them, but due to the economic slowdown, they are significantly scaling back their hiring in ‘09 and are asking those who’ve accepted offers but haven’t started to postpone their first day as far as April.  It was ultimately my choice…if I really needed to start in January, they would have let me, but this is a way for them to save some money without firing anyone or revoking any offers.  Anyway, it’s an uncertain time all around, but as long as I do really still have the job, I’m okay with hanging out with the folks in Dallas for a couple more months first.  I’m already thinking of things to do with the free time.  I can go on my college church’s mission trip without using any vacation time, which is pretty awesome.  And I might pick up some warm gear for my motorcycle and take some trips to College Station and elsewhere while I’m free.  And I’m sure I’ll find other things to do, too (like getting back in shape, hopefully).

But back to my recap of the year.  It’s kind of startling how much I have changed in these 4 1/2 years of college.  The experiences and relationships I had while going to A&M have been a tremendous blessing and have grown me in more ways than I’m probably aware.  I thank God for leading me to my church, University Lutheran Chapel, through which I met many of the people I now consider my closest friends.  And I thank God for the other opportunities He has brought, including the practically accidental (on my part) first internship with National Instruments which ultimately led to a full-time offer that I accepted.  I’d like to think that it has been my wisdom and initiative that has made my college experience such a fruitful one, but when I look back it becomes clear just how instrumental God’s hand has been all along.

It’s also amazing to see how many of my friends are now engaged and/or married, many of whom I’ve known for the duration of their relationship.  When I’ll join their ranks, I’m not sure, but for now I’m enjoying my independence while trying to discern who God wants me to pursue, and when.  I’m not in any hurry, but I’d say I’m much more ready than I was just a few years ago (when, ironically, I did seem much more anxious about it).

As far as past-times go, I continue to find myself dabbling in all sorts of things, which unfortunately gets expensive and makes the task of moving all the more daunting.  I still enjoy drumming a lot and hope to start playing at whatever church I go to in Austin since it’s been such a fun way to be involved at my College Station church.  And eventually, I think it’d be fun to join a band (which, incidentally, isn’t hard in Austin…especially for drummers it seems).  In the same vein, I’ve been having fun with Rock Band 2 on my PS3, which actually isn’t a bad way to improve as a drummer in certain areas.  I continue to enjoy photography, although my lack of any exotic trips lately has left me somewhat starved for opportunities (I don’t much like taking photos of people). I’ve also continued to give myself video projects, the most recent and by far the most time-consuming one being a series of videos on Christian Apologetics.  I still have a couple more to complete…hopefully they’ll be done early next year.  I’m not sure what’ll be next, although I’ve been wanting to do more weddings.  I filmed the wedding of two of my good friends a year ago and was quite pleased with both the experience and the results.  At this point it’d just be a hobby for some extra spending money, but in the long run who knows…I can certainly think of worse things to do for a living.

Well, I guess that about does it for this recap of the year (and college in general).  It’s been a fun and exciting ride, and I look forward to whatever God has in store for me in the future.  I’ll be spending Christmas relaxing with my family at home, followed by a busy January.  It starts with me being in a friend’s wedding, then taking a vacation to the West coast with the family, then skiing for a couple of days with my brother and friends from my A&M church.  After that, I’ll be trying to make the most of my free time before starting work in March or April.

May you have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Sincerely,
Brian

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