dying rays of the evening sun

An actual blog post!

You may be wondering: What has Tom been doing all this time he’s been reblogging unoriginal content and liking things on tumblr?!

Well, your answer is here, but it’s best described as incredibly complicated.

First off, I moved out of school, finally. On-campus housing sucked. $12000 for 8 months? In a shitty suite style double room? IIT, you suck. But moving day was a smashing success. Everything was packed and clean and ready in 3 hours, and a huuuuge thanks to my grandma and grandpa for basically storing my entire life for an indeterminate amount of time in their basement!

Also: New major/minor/focus! I’m now officially a Humanities major with a focus in Law and a minor in Architecture. I’m planning on going to Law school after my undergrad sentence is served. I’m a bit more than excited; I’m ecstatic. I’ve secretly, in the back of my mind, wanted to be a lawyer since day 1, and now I’m finally giving in and doing what I love: applying my love for learning and knowledge in a way that helps real people get the justice they deserve. For now, though, I just have to take a shit-ton of Literature classes to fulfill my major requirements, but next year is EXCLUSIVELY the first-year Architecture curriculum and I CANNOT WAIT. Finally getting to express my artistic side is something I’ve been looking forward to more than anything else!

Another huge difference from before: I’m back in Tennessee for (most/some of) the summer. YES. I have missed my small, but incredibly close, group of friends more than I can ever express. Yesterday, I saw my favorite 3 of them and it was marvelous. Not really sure when I’ll return to Chicago, but right now a couple guys and myself are apartment hunting and when we find something, we’ll get things rolling. I’m incredibly excited - I’m FINALLY stepping into the real world and doing big-kid things, like paying my own bills and managing my financial future and looking forward past the present and into the future. My grandpa gave me a sort-of lecture while he was driving me back to his house from the train station on this that I really did take to heart; I tend(ed) to live in the present. However, that’s changing. I’m looking towards the future instead of being stuck in the present. I’m getting my priorities straight and securing what I have and what I want, and I’m trying to look for others as much as I can.

Another big announcement: I finally came out to my family. Yep, I told them that I am inexplicably, unwaveringly gay. The reaction was truly more than I could have ever asked for. Everyone there was incredibly supportive and hugged me and none of them hold anything at all against me. Thank the good Lord in Heaven above; that whole fiasco had been stressing me out for a few years now. I’ve known that I am what I am for many, MANY years, but I finally worked up the courage to inform my family, and the way they unconditionally love me for who I am is something I honestly cannot even begin to thank them enough for. It has made my life so much easier, and I finally have dropped that largest of my burdens off of my back.

Altogether, it’s been a crazy past couple weeks, but I’m grabbing it by the horns and making it work for me. Things are looking up; I’m enjoying my time at home and my parents and I are growing closer and I’m starting to realize that they really are two wise people. Sure, we disagree a lot, but their opinion on pretty much anything is always supported with concrete evidence and that’s something I value in people, especially the ones who brought me on to this earth.

Alright, here’s the tl;dr: Moved from Chicago to Tennessee, Humanities/Law/Architecture, I’m gay, life is good.

“…for nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose—a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” - Mary Shelley