Upcoming Column Sneak Peak

This will be run in the CT Post in the upcoming week, probably next weekend. Take a look and enjoy:

Buzz. Buzz.

I keep my phone on vibrate, but I can almost tell when a particular pulsation is coming from a friend or family or work. This one was definitely a friend buzz, and as I looked down to confirm my guess, I tried to inspire myself into acting surprised I was right.

Normally, a call at around 9:00 PM from this particular college friend would be in relation to scheduling for the fast-approaching evening. Perhaps it was for a final run to the local grocery store or fast-food place. Or maybe, as I go to college in California, a late night beach cookout was in the works.

But the circumstances of this particular phone call were different. You see, instead of returning for a second consecutive year onto the unyieldingly sunny, palm-tree lined confines of Pepperdine University, I did what 60% of students do at my school: go abroad. OK, I may be stretching it, as “abroad” in this sense is spending my fall semester in Washington, D.C., but next semester I’ll be going to London where I really will be abroad.

So when I saw that the phone call was from my former roommate, I had to adjust accordingly to more of a “How’re things going?” tone that was reserved for times like summer break. In fact, on the other end was not only my roommate, but the whole collection of all my dorm-mates just settling down for dinner in the cafeteria with the three hour time difference from Washington, D.C. to California.

The conversation itself was uncomfortable as we talked about what the other was missing. They filled me in on how everyone changed over the summer in Malibu and I updated them on my fantastic internship on Capitol Hill working for Congressman Christopher Shays (R-4). I would never take back my plans for this year, but I would hardly complain if I was sitting at that cafeteria table with them instead of connected through a phone.

As happy as I am fulfilling a dream working for Congressman Shays and then going to London, the stinging reality I kept being reminded of throughout the conversation was how it would be a full year before I see my best college friends again.

While I’ll always appreciate hearing from my friends out in California, I’d just ask that they mind the time difference. I’ve already be awaken half-a-dozen times at 3:00 AM.