My first entry

Hey cyberspace,

My name is Todd. I am opening this account for school purposes. I have to maintain a blog throughout the semester for my creative writing class. I have never been one to write about, or even talk about, my feelings or emotions. I generally have become very good at keeping things inside, which is probably a bad thing, but I haven't exploded yet. I have always been a little skeptical about blogging. Why would someone want an infinite number of strangers reading their thoughts? This will definitely be a new experience for me, but I will give it my best shot. I don't believe in doing anything halfheartedly anymore. I will either give my best, or not do it! haha.

Recently, there is not much that I won't try. My life has been somewhat of a shambles in the past few years and I am only recently putting the pieces back together. As a result I have set out to better myself and try new things.

In high school I was very shy, but always did well in school and sports. I was accepted into every college I applied to save for one, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. I am born and raised in Annapolis so all I can say is that I always wanted to go there as long as I could remember. I decided to go to prep school for a year after high school under a scholarship from USNA and then entered the class of 2006. I was almost immediately disillusioned with the place I had built up in my mind to be so great, and after struggling for 3 and half years I decided that place, and the military in general, were not for me. I floundered a bit after that, missing the chance to finish school right away and instead took a job in the yachting industry which I still love! I got the chance to travel, meet some amazing people, and play on boats all day. I got laid off last year when the economy tanked, and subsequently moved to Maine in September for a fresh start. This is my first semester back in school since the end of 2005.

I also have struggled with a personal loss. The passing of my 23 year old fiance almost 2 years ago sent me spiraling out of control with no direction in life for over a year. Not a day goes by where I don't think about it, but I have learned to be more productive in life again. I have kept a lot of feelings inside for a long time, but things have been getting better over the past 6 months.

So I guess I would not be doing this if it wasn't for class. I have never taken a creative writing class before. I am a history major, so by practice I learned to write objectively. I am excited to try something new, and I am also hoping that this class will improve my writing skills in general! I have been told my many professors that good historians are first and foremost good writers. Let's see where this goes...