Admire from a Distance

Occasionally someone will wander into your life
Just a bit, not wholly in it, but simply in your view.
She'll be amazing, graceful, eloquent, and beautiful;
talented, determined, and intelligent.
And all you could do is stand at the side and silently take her in.
Knowing that she'll never know that you ever existed
or that she stole a part of you.

So all you can do is admire from a distance,
this being that passed you by.

Wondering why the world does this,
offering what you can never hope to have.

Just a note.

As things come to an end, explanations for my conduct this term:

1. I am here for a very different purpose than most individuals.
2. There is a lot of work to do; and
3. Most people are full of crap.

Engineering is just an alternate route to my ultimate goal, albiet the more difficult one. I knew this going in, and it has been a humbling and enlightening experience. Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to try something new, I need to remain on the ride until it's done.

This is only the beginning of the journey, there's still so much to prepare and actually execute. Hopefully I am capable of doing what needs to be done, but I'm nervous and need to focus. This is why I haven't partaken in many activities that would distract me.

Outward appearances are only part of the story. Most things people say are meaningless. You can't rely on someone to tell you what their character is like, you can only judge them based on how they act. Even those that would see it as pretentious to judge do so themselves. The irony, hypocrisy, and change in human personalities will never cease to amaze me; I'd rather not associate myself with individuals who exemplify this, while doing what I can to ensure I don't become one of them.

With that said, it has been a wonderfully interesting five years at Waterloo. Although it feels like just the end of another term, where we bid everyone goodbye just to see them in 4-months time, this time it'll be different. We won't be coming back. It'll sink in later, and I'll miss everyone sorely. But until then, best of luck to everyone on their exams, job searches, and graduate school applications.

Networks

Maintaining networks is a time consuming and resource intensive task. With limits in both, it means you can only have a core group of active relationships at a time; which can be rotated to changing situations and environments. This lends itself to a system that requires conditioning to the notion of letting people go.

At the same time, you learn to analyze your relationships and build a roster based on certain qualities and principles. It has been a long time coming, and a rather difficult one at that, but the reorganization and reconstruction of my networks is going well.

Apologies to the people I have had to push away along the way, I enjoyed our time together, and this never was supposed to be a judge of your character in terms of "good" or "bad." No, I wouldn't presume to be worthy of judging anyone as thus. But rather whether your traits were in line with what "fit" and "didn't."

I will need a team soon, and there are many positions to fill. I promise an opportunity like no other, but you won't hear of it until I know I can deliver. Expect to receive an invitation to join me someday, after I have set things up; and yes, I am prepared to convince you that this will be something spectacular.

To those of you whom I've already worked with, it's been a delight.
To those I've yet to work with, fight with me and challenge my ideas. If we can pull off success after all that and still be friends at the end of the day, we'll be just fine.

Thank you for being a part of my life, and hopefully you'll accept the offer I give you down the road.

Missed Connections

Do you ever feel like you've lost something, when there is a brief interaction with another being but no followthrough?

Like the time you open the door for a girl, and your eyes lock as she smiles appreciatively. Perhaps it was a trick of the mind, but things pause, things hold. You both share a moment, and then it passes fleetingly. She never reappears in your life.

But what would've happened if you somehow reached out more? Complimented her choice of accessories perhaps, leading to a conversation about the item, a phone number, a lunch together, a date, one unforgettable night, a ring, a child, a lifetime of adventures.

No one will ever know.

Most people would think that far-fetched, but it's happened before.

A girl, a message, a photo shoot out together, a failed attempt at a kiss. A week later, the girl rode her bike across the city in the dead of the night to tell the boy how much she cared about him. The week after that, the boy drove terribly far to tell her how crazy he was of her. Arguments, tears, and many weeks, months, years pass. Now they are the best of friends.

It all began with a message the girl sent to the boy. She was a stranger, just reaching out to someone who she stumbled upon through a connection.

It can happen, it has, and I'd hate to miss another one.