“It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

When I first joined the academy, I did not yet know how much truth lies in that phrase. Now, sitting here at the end of my journey, I realize the end is not great at all. In fact, the end sucks. It is truly what happened in between that matters now. The friends I made, the lessons I’ve learned, the battles I fought, are all going to be much better memories than the end of it all. But as we all know, all things that have a beginning have an end.

The JA is a fantastic place. Before I joined I never believed an online community could ever take up so much of my time. It was a lot of fun. Recently, however, the Jedi Academy has been working against me. I have a lot of things that need to be done in my life right now, and all I’m doing is putting off my work till later just so I can waste some more time on IRC or on the forums. Before I know it, it is 02:00 o’clock in the morning and I am still sitting at my computer, not working (just like now). And this happens almost every day. Of course I am blaming no one but myself. The fact is the JA is an addiction for me. And I have got to fight it off. It has never been a big problem for me until now. But I really feel that I am arriving at a crossroads in my life and that I’ve got to make a choice. It might sound really corny to you but it makes perfect sense to me.

So this is it. I am leaving. Some of you will be sad, some of you will be disappointed, some of you will be happy, and some of you won’t care at all. I know that I’ve touched many people here during my stay and I’d like to show my gratitude to all of you one last time. JACs, thank you for this place! Keep up the amazing work. You guys rock! JATs and JAKs, thank you for everything you have taught me and others, and remember: the students look up to you. Fellow students, without you there is no academy. Help out with anything you can to keep this place going. Fellow Belouves, I know you will be just fine without me. And if you ever need me, I won’t be far away.

I’ve made a ton of friends here. Fizz, Sared, Ulic, Ioshee, Damon C, Monty, Kueller, Jacen, just to name a few… and just because you are not in that list doesn’t mean I don’t love ya. I will keep in touch with you on ICQ or MSN.

I know I wasn’t always the nicest and that I can be a bit harsh sometimes. So if I ever offended or hurt anyone in any way, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.

From n00b to JAT, and back to n00b again; I feel now it is time to end the cycle. It is time I took care of my Real Life™. So, without further ado, Popo “Bubu” Deepdelver Belouve is signing off.