I’m sure SAD is a backronym

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I had a streak going for a few years there of visiting a new state every year. In 2005 I crossed into Kentucky for the first time (for about three minutes after I got lost in downtown Cincinnati), then in 2006 I had my big thirtieth birthday trip to North Carolina (where I also visited West Virginia for the first time). Last year I went to Indiana just to say I’d been to Indiana, and back then I realized that I’m now closer to Canada than any other state. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this streak is going to continue this year; I don’t have any pressing need to go to another state, and to be honest I don’t have a desire to go visit another state just for the sake of being able to say that I did so. It doesn’t help that gas is so expensive right now, either. I’m sure that I’ll have more opportunities for travel next summer, but for now I’ve got enough going on here at the house and at work to keep me busy.

If I were going to go anyplace right now, though, it would be to Yellow Springs to visit Antioch College. Ever since I stopped going there, when September comes around I have memories of the good times I had there, and a strong desire to go back down. I get depressed easily, and my memories of Antioch this time every year might just be masking Seasonal Affective Disorder, but that doesn’t stop me from wondering just how going down there and looking at the old buildings would affect me. Of course, if I do go down there then I’d only be able to look at the buildings, because the college was closed this summer due to a myriad of reasons, something that continues to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

Depending on how things go as Antioch’s Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association go — a debate that is, quite frankly, making my head spin — the college should reopen in 2012 or possibly earlier. I have to say, if there is any opening for an English teacher when the college reopens, I’m going to swoop down on it as hard as I can. Even though my time at Antioch wasn’t without its flaws — it taught me how and why to get angry about things, but I didn’t learn how to properly channel my anger for several more years — that was the one place where I felt comfortable and at home. This country and this world is a sadder place without Antioch educating students, and so help me, if I get the chance to contribute to that education, I’m going to pounce on that opportunity with all that I have.

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