Have you ever just stopped what you were doing and looked back to where you were one year before? If you ever find yourself doing this, I'm sure you will also find the comparison between then and now to be quite astounding. Sometimes a year seems to drag on and on, while other times it seems like no time at all. It can come and go before you even realize it's there. And sometimes it's almost impossible to believe that things happened a year ago rather than yesterday.

This time last year, I was graduating high school. Today I will watch and congratulate many of my friends as they walk across that stage in their caps and gowns.

This time last year I said goodbye to my friends, my loved ones, and my town as I prepared to move to another state for college. Soon I will be doing the same once again.

This time last year I went off to college while everyone else from my high school got to enjoy their summer vacation. Next week I will be starting my final semester of college while everyone else is enjoying their summer vacation yet again.

In a few months, when all of my friends are going back to school for their sophomore year, I will be just a couple of months away from graduating college.

Being back at home for these two weeks of summer vacation feels almost as if nothing has changed. I feel like I am right where I was a year ago. But then I remember how different things are now.

I remember the countless people I have met and lifelong friends I have made from all over the world. I remember all of the people lost in my community. I remember all of the things I have read, all of the movies I have watched, all of the Broadway and Off-Broadway shows I have seen, all of the pictures taken, all of the dates gone on, all of the adventures had. I remember how much knowledge I have gained in such a short amount of time. I remember how much I have grown in the last 365 days.

525,600 minutes seems like such a long time, but once it goes by it feels like mere seconds. We never know what might be in store for us next, but if you take the time to really look back on everything that's happened you'll begin to see how it all comes together to form the person you are and direct you on the path you've taken. Someone very special to me once told me that "today's tears make the river you sail away on."

It is truly incredible what can happen in just one year. As our friend Vizzini from "The Princess Bride" would say, the substantial amount of change we undergo in only a year is...