College is that amazing time of your life when you taste that first hint of freedom and independence on your lips, that rush of wind through your hair as you step out into a brand new world, anxious to shape the very experiences and memories you will live with the rest of your life. Like a bird taking its first flight, it can be awkward at first but eventually you find that exhilarating moment where everything feels like a dream. You feel immortal.
Unfortunately, you have to land sometime.
That moment is different for everyone. Some people land very early in life, whether it be through a broken home or tragedy. Some are lucky enough to live with that passion until their very last moments. The thing is, we all have to deal with landing at some point in our lives.
In a year when we are celebrating the first Rose Bowl win in 95 years for the University of Oregon, we carry with us families and friends that bear the scars of crashing from that flight. This 2012 senior class was missing someone in the hallways of the EMU to the field of Autzen Stadium. A student, a leader, a friend, a teammate and more important than any of that, a son.
4 years ago today, redshirt freshman Todd Doxey drowned after jumping off a bridge overlooking the McKenzie River, forever altering the lives of those who knew him. Many people landed that day but as the seasons change, so too does the promise of immortality of the next generation as they look to spread their wings and fly.
This quack fix is about remembrance. For Todd Doxey, Terrance Kelly, and all of those that left this earth too soon. Hug your family, call that friend you haven’t talked to in a while, look at those pictures of when your hair was a little too big (or in some cases, when you had hair).
One day, everyone has to land. Until then, how high we fly begins with us.