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Ryan Eshoff: _Epic finish is only the start of the story_

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This article is part of the Daily Bruin's Graduation Issue 2012 coverage. To view more multimedia, galleries, and columns, visit http://dailybruin.com/gradissue2012

By Ryan Eshoff

June 9, 2012 10:28 p.m.

The End.

Such finality in the words, such magnitude of meaning. The phrase is commonplace in our culture ““ ironic, because we clearly hate endings.

We hate endings, which is why we have 10-year reunions and graduate school and dessert and encores and seconds of dessert and 13 “Land Before Time” movies.

I covered sports for four years here, and people tend to be drawn to sports for the epic finishes. I count myself among that group. Over the last few years in Westwood I’ve covered walk-off home runs, game-winning shots at the buzzer and last-second field goals.

Cue the celebrations!

But don’t even sports fans hate endings? Word out of the University of Kentucky was that the day after the Wildcats won the national championship for college basketball this past April, message boards, online forums and call-in radio shows were buzzing with talk of recruiting and possibility of repeating victory. The day after!

We’re not too good at handling endings, regardless of how spectacular they are.

Most of you have probably seen “The Avengers” by now. Yeah ““ not just one, but TWO scenes after the credits! It’s a cool tradition and all, but just end the movie already.

What then is the reason for our seemingly inherent incompatibility with endings? I’m sure many of you could put on your social anthropology hats and give me an answer, but I’m of the belief that we are just not wired to accept the finality of endings.

My experiences at UCLA and the Daily Bruin have taught me many things, some rather interesting and some completely irrelevant. But in all the reading and writing that comprises the schedule of an English major and a journalist, I’ve confirmed the conviction that our life stories do not simply end with death, that our souls were created for a narrative infinitely longer than one that ends with a pair of words signaling the conclusion.

Graduation might mean that it’s time to start a new chapter, but it’s certainly not time to close the book. It’s been four years of character development, plot twists and cliffhangers, and man, oh man what a fun and memorable chapter. But shoot, there’s plenty left to read in each of our stories and I don’t think you’ll ever have to finish.

Just like this column, the end is only the beginning.

Eshoff was a sports senior staff writer for 2010-2012, assistant sports editor for 2010-2011, sports reporter for 2009-2010 and a sports contributor for 2008-2009.

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