October has passed really fast. Faster than I think I’ve experienced it passing in years. In a blink of an eye, I feel like we’ve gone from warm weather and lake-days to brilliant leaves and cold rain. Halloween approaches, and the question, “What are you doing for the holidays?” is a common conversation starter.

Last week, though, was one that brought around a lot of perspective in many ways. It all really started with handling an issue in a closed group I help admin on Facebook. For the first time, outside of approving memberships, I had to put on my admin hat and kick out a member… and deal with the aftermath of the drama that occurred. I don’t like drama, and I often say that I don’t handle it well. However, through the course of the issue, I learned that I CAN handle drama, and that sometimes the only answer you can give is a strong and final, “NO.”

Not long after, I got word of an extended family member’s death. It wasn’t a family member I was close to at all — in fact according to my Mom I probably had not seen this person since I was in high school — but I still felt this distinct pang of sorrow over the loss. Gone too young, I ached to hug his family members, and I wished I could take their pain away. Life is short… make the most of every day you have. Hold on to your loved ones, and tell them you care as often as you can. You never know when it might be your last chance.

Saturday brought about the Oklahoma State University homecoming, and the horrible accident that occurred at their homecoming parade. Suddenly the fact that football does not trump life was brought to light. Win or lose, there were people who would never get to hug their loved ones again. There were others who lay in a hospital in critical condition. All these lives changed in the blink of an eye… the outcome of the football game they were excited about no longer mattered.   

We lost today, but damnit, a drunk girl plowed through a crowd with her car at OSU killing several people and football doesn’t really matter — Fletcher Massie (@FletcherMassie) October 25, 2015

That all being said, football does matter a lot of many people. Saturday night was a difficult for Aggies, as we watched our team implode on itself.  Even as we took a moment to reflect on the tragedy at OSU, it was hard to not feel that sting of loss.

The next day, when I got dressed to go out, I didn’t hesitate to grab one of my Texas A&M hoodies. I remembered a tweet I shared a few years prior (thanks to Timehop I had just recently read it again), in which after the Aggies had lost, someone asked a fellow Aggie if they were embarrassed to wear an A&M shirt on Monday. “Never, sir,” they had replied.

We get hung up on football records, and so many deem a university “good” or “bad” based on their football season. But I didn’t go to Texas A&M for football. I went for everything else. A good education, the Aggie family, and core sense of values that the school instilled into me. It’s those lessons and the Aggie community that I lean on heavily in my daily life… its why I am passionate about being and honored to be an Aggie. And that doesn’t change whether my team has a losing season or are ranked top of the charts.

So, you know, life is all about perspective. I can look at October coming to an end as a bummer that the year is going by too fast, or I can embrace it as time marching forward towards the next big thing in life… whatever that may or may not be.