Guest Blog: Charles G.

I am not giving you what I promised. I apologize in advance for that, but I am giving you something much better: A guest blog from my best friend from Xavier, Charles Galvin. Some of you might remember Charles' earlier guest spot blogs about his stand up comedy, so sit back and hang on. He never disappoints.

So it feels like forever ago since Jaclyn and I last saw each other, not counting a few attempts at Skype, which generally works better when you are not trying to pirate free Wi-Fi from your neighbors. In an effort to reconnect, Jaclyn reached out to me and begged that I do a guest blog. And by reached out and begged, I mean I was reading her blog one day, noticed that nothing substantive had been written in a while, asked her if I could do a post, and she obliged. For those of you who don’t know me very well, I apologize. You will probably want to go ahead and stop reading now, because not much of it will be about Jaclyn, partly because we’ve been apart for the whole summer, but also because I’m desperate for a moment in the spotlight of “I Rejoice”.

The past summer I took on the job of head coach for the Beckett Ridge Barracudas, a summer swim team that I’ve now coached for 5 years after swimming for 12 years. We achieved what some might consider successful results, winning our league championship for the 15th year in a row. It was a tremendous relief to not let the streak be snapped in my first year on the job, and while I have had many great accomplishments in my career, this summer saw the biggest one yet: convincing a 6 year old to swim a race without taking a breath.

Since the magic ended about a week ago, my life has been the whirlwind of adventures that most professional athletes/coaches experience in the off-season, or at least that’s what I imagine. Probably the best part about my job is that while most of the swimmers know I’m 22, it doesn’t ever seem to sink in. They still see me as though I am in High School, and frankly I love it. My best friends this summer have been RJ ( a fellow Xavier grad turned swim coach) and about a dozen boys ranging in age from 10 to 14. Before you raise your eyebrows and get all Billie-Jean on me, relax. I have been on vacation to visit my girlfriend Natalie in Boston, and can assure you that my relationship with these boys is purely to boost my ego and nothing else. There’s nothing like being able to relive that age, only this time around do everything I wish I’d done so that I’m the coolest kid at the pool.

I have also been on vacation to visit my grandparents in Vermont. These were some of the same grandparents that offered me some wisdom as to what I should do with my life at my graduation party:
Papa: Congratulations on graduating Charles, that’s a big deal. Now what exactly was it you majored in?
Me: English with a Business minor.
Papa: Ah-ha. You know what? Up in Vermont, they’re dying for people to fill out prescriptions and work in drug stores.
Me: You mean pharmacists?
Papa: Yes! Pharmacists! And I hear they make pretty good money too. You should look into that. Does Xavier have a pharmacy program?
Me: No, they don’t. I think it’s about a 6-year program from what I’ve heard from other people who are in one though.
Papa: Well, you’ve probably taken most of the same core classes, so I bet it wouldn’t take as long. Give it some thought.

I’ve always thought of myself as a trendsetter, and this summer has been no exception. My most recent offering to society has been living with my parents at home without actively seeking a full-time job. It has yet to catch on from what I can tell though. Most of the Facebook profiles that I have stalked seem to indicate that my former classmates are either enrolled in graduate classes or working somewhere, while some have even gotten married. I am looking forward the gravity of my decisions eventually sinking in and waking up one morning to realize how much time I’ve wasted. Until then, I join you in eagerly awaiting the far-too-few-and-far-between updates on Jaclyn’s life so that I may vicariously live through her.