Creole Wisdom

graduation (the long one)

My lovely AOII sisters and I (the seniors) graduation on May 27th at the University of Minnesota CLA commencement May 17th. 

College was hard.  It was emotionally hard: from my parents dropping me off at my dorm in Hill House to the growing pains of learning to live with others (sharing a bathroom!) to professors who didn't like me (for whatever reason: being Greek, being too talkative, being me, not liking them- whatever).  Emotionally hard, because moving so many times is physically exhausting and takes its toll (moving is hard!) And then an emotionally hard that sneaks up on you: attending your last initiation as a collegiate member, or senior send off.  Some of the hardest is the heartbreak from whoever.  The emotional strain that comes with math and science classes, or that really scary final-

College was physically hard. Getting up, and getting out in -20 degree weather is tough.  Stomping through snow from east bank to west. Carrying boxes up big flights of stairs at Hill House, in South Minneapolis, at University Commons, and finally, AOII.  Trying to make times for exercise when you are exhausted.  Getting up hung over and still going to work or school, because it's what you do-  but it was worth it! Scraping your feet while in heels out or having your tootsies stepped on at formals. 

College was spiritually hard.  What a beautiful world our homes are as children where our parents work to prepare us to follow in their footsteps.  College is another ballpark with God.  Sometimes you can't hear him, sometimes his voice is strong.  I leaned on friends and family for guidance.  I lost my way, I came back.  It's the reality.  Never getting all the answers, but wanting them, and realizing that is how life is spiritually is a wake up call. 

College was academically hard.  Can I get an amen?  It's not the homework or the papers, it's simply being there.  Making an impression.  That damn group work that drives us all nuts.  The boys who want you to take notes for them, write their papers, or send you copies of your final (yes it happened).  The people who don't show, the late night study nights, and the uncertainty of where you stand. 

So yes, college was hard.  But for the most part, college was good.

College was rich with friendships.  Words cannot express the love I feel for my friends met here.  This was certainly meant to be my path.  AOII was my home (a piece of my heart is still there).  We are talking good friends here.  Friends who pick you up from class, walk with you to class, get McDonald's ice cream with you, listen to you cry, watch kids movies with you, lend you their OPI top coat, sit with you when you wake up in the morning to rehash the last night.  Friends who love you so much they live with you after college, and work where you work (coughkatecough).  Friends who cannot get enough.  Enough laughing, insides jokes, boy stories, and good beauty advice.  Friends you can take places!

College was rich with dating.  Despite my one "dry" year, there really were boys abound.  Boys who taught me that men are for the most part, good people who just don't know how to act at times.  Boys were were funny.  Boys who were scared.  Boys wounded from their high school love, boys who won me over with their humor and strange sense of fashion.  Some of my best friends in school were boys.  My little and big bro (whom I never dated) ARE like brothers to me.  But back to the dating. It was good. it was bad. it was fun. it was stupid, and I learned from it all.

College was rich with life lessons.  Like getting up, showing up, and being early.  Like smiling, and having good manners, even to rude people.  Like forgiving your friends and sometimes professors.  Like you really can eat carbs for all three meals, and it will not really show (yet!) Like AOII yoga pants are totally fine to wear 7 days a week.  That taking care of kids is the best job, who else has that much energy to keep up with a two year old? That I am really lucky and have it made (at least to me!)

So on May 17th at 3pm I walked to Coffman one last time as a student.  I met up with my sisters and we walked towards Northrup.  There were sat in a row together and watched other students graduate.  Eventually it was our row's turn.  We went up together, and cheered as the announcer named all of us.  I love that we were together, even at "the end."

And as I close this book on the last childhood chapter of my life, I can safetly say that I experienced all there was, and loved as hard as I could.  Cheers, and pass me a glass of champagn.

the good with the bad

I moved out of AOII tonight, you know- it was quite bittersweet.  I really do feel like an era of my life has ended- an era that I did not always appreciate, because I am impatient and want my life to go faster, but I am also nostalgic.  And that is a lethal combination.  I think it hit me when I had moved every item of mine out- and it looked so empty.

The room I shared first with Becky, my "little sis," and then Kate- who is family that I didn't know I had until two years ago. 

How strange it will be to go to sleep tonight in a room without someone else.  Someone to talk to, and say at the end of a deep conversation "good night. love you" and hear "love you too" back. 

Emily Kate's post got me thinking, and so here is my comprised list for all the blogosphere to read.  Since this era is truly ending:

What [I loved] about college:
•Making/creating my own schedule. Getting up late, oh I love my sleep!
•Living "on my own" with friends
•Alpha Omicron Pi (everything about it)
•Taking boys into "the green room"
•Walking into the mall on a crisp fall morning
•Wearing AOII yoga pants 7 days a week
•Painting my nails in the basement while watching movies with Karen and Alicia
•Staying up really late
•"Getting coffee"
•All the boys (after 4 years of all girls high school!)
•Black Tuesday
•Student discounts
•Formals (all six of them)
•Eating meals with tons of people
•Gigantic holiday breaks, 4 month long summer breaks

What [I disliked] about college:
•Tuition 50,000 for the first year (SLC) 10,000 for the next three (plus dues!)
•Moving (12 times. *$&#@)
•Not having a car/walking in -30 degree weather or at night. in an urban environment
•Finals. research papers.
•How "long" it felt
•The Dinkytown Singles Ward (shudder)
•Trifling boys
•Living with (just 1) crazy people (sophomore year)
•Drunk, loud people outside my window, waking me up at night
•Riding the bus
•Ugly furniture. bad matresses.
•Living in not-so-fabulous neighborhoods
•4 extention cords. 2 ethernet cords. cords.
•Making big, often frightening decisions
•Feeling worn out from school, tests

With all things, you must take the good with the bad.  I choose to remember the good.  You can't hold on to something ugly and bad forever. 

That being said, let me get on my soapbox here: I am so glad I went to college.  This was always expected of me, and I am glad I was able to finish school in four years and graduate from a good University.  I believe good mothers must also be intelligent.  I went to college, so I can be smart and a good mom someday.  Also, C's do get degrees!  College is also not the best place to go husband hunting- trust me, I tried, and it I finally found someone good by the last year.  In the last semester.  But college is a GREAT place for finding future bridesmaids and godmothers.  You'll at least get a couple freshman year.  College is exposure to lots of different people: happy, sad, sick, healthy, crazy...  I only ran into a few bad apples (Lindsey, Jana) but cannot even begin to count the gold of friends I found in school: Claire, Anne, Dan, Emma, Kate, Karen, Katie, Alicia, Zane, Becky, Joy, Malyia...

All in all: fabulous experience.  Time to close the book on this one.

the zero hour

From now until Sunday at 3pm I am: done with college, but not yet a college graduate.  It's the zero hour, and I plan to make the most of it.  A little update is in need:

This past weekend, something exciting came in the mail.  It was quite thrilling, actually...

so many memories of high school came floating back when I took this out of the package.  Except this time, it's a pretty white with a gold 2009.  I think you should get a little upgrade when you've got four years of undergraduate under your belt er. skirt. 

I also got to upgrade my bedroom at home a little bit, since I'll be living there this summer.  I'm excited to save money, spend time with family, and collect great garage sale finds/vintage stuff for my new apartment which I move into September 1st.  And the upgrade is: pretty curtains.  I know the lighting is bad, but I had to show you- I am so happy

Saturday, I went over to SAE (Sigma Alpha Epsilon) for a little photoshoot.  Their historian wanted to get a few photos taken, and here are some of my favorites.  You can see all of them, here.  It was such a treat, and so fun.

For mother's day, per mom's request we got breakfast at the Everyday Cafe.  At 7am.  Yes, it was hard.  Then we went to 9am mass, again, a struggle for me, but I pushed through the sleepiness!  Mom loved her new reed diffuser from Ampersand. 

Then I had the "hard" task of picking out swatches of fabric for the table cloths at my graduation party.  It's going to be really fabulous.  Cannot wait : )

nearing the end of the beginning

(just bear with me this next week as commencement is upon me, and I just need to take it all in).  Excuse me, how come no one ever tells you how emotional graduation is?  College graduation.  High School graduation was sad... um, kind of, except when you consider how thrilling one last summer and college orientation is.  There is a lot to look forward to.  Instead, with college graduation you get a giant blank slate.  If you wanted, you could move to Australia, or just decide to live in an abandoned house.  You can do what you want. The choices are overwhelming and freeing all at once.

Today, on the bus coming back from my morning class in which my dear professor shed a few tears about how we were going to make this country great, and change things (I want to) I thought to myself... I can take a dance class.  I could run everyday.  I could...

The choices are liberating and frightening and exciting.

I just walked back from my last class as an undergraduate at the U of MN.  Forever.  I am done (minus finals).  It felt so bittersweet. 

I wish I had lived in the moment more.  This "week in the life" has been a perfect project for me. right now. it has forced me to live right now.  Where was I the rest of the time?  I am glad I wasn't always in "katie land" as j calls it when I zone out.  I wish I had been present more.  Gone to more exchanges, feeds, joined another club, skipped class to do something fun [but I did], and... the list goes on and on.  But it's not fair to have regrets really because you cannot go back.

I am excited for the future, and my life from now on.  I never imagined my existence as a college grad.  Growing up, it was expected of me, but I had a few images of myself in my mind: going to high school, getting into college, going to college, and far off: getting married and being a mom.  I am going to fill-in-the-blank. 

back to school- final take

•This could very well be my last back to school.  I'm not positive, but it was a bittersweet walk to campus this morning.  Chances are I'll go on to grad school, but certainly a chapter in my life is closing. 
•And to mimic Princess Lasertron, I am in grade sixteen this year.  Wow.  Sixteen years.  I still remember my first day of kindergarten.

•And while uniforms were the norm for kindergarten, I've got a dress code of my own to match my cute sorority sisters.  It's back to school... with VERA BRADLEY!

•And the run down on classes: I've only had two so far, so it's hard to tell.  However, so far, so good.  I think my Electronic Media course is going to be the best- too bad he never lets us miss studio labs, um, when am I supposed to skip out and go on vacation? LOL! This is not high school, after all.  Attendance was so 1992-2005 ; )

write.

Late this afternoon by the light of the really old, original windows I set my writing pieces out to dry like sheets.

These babies all go into my massive Portfolio 1 for my writing class.

It is so weird, to write on command.

The last writing course I took was at SLC and it was creatively focused.  This one is more of a broad, general course, but we recently have gotten into some personal narratives. I love doing them.  Here is a little taste of one I wrote (part of my conversion process, really):

The dew was especially wet that year, and the slugs made my jogs into a zigzag line as to avoid smashing them under my haste feet. Through this running I could smell the earth coming up. Visitors to Oregon, mostly my mother, always would remark at how green everything was. It resembled Ireland a classmate had told me, as she had visited her heritage homeland and come back with the realization that the two places were alike, indeed. Green, often tied to rebirth and newness wrapped me in its arms that year, and I began to find something that would fill that void, the void each one of us has.

Later in the sun soaked dining room of my father's home two women with small black name tags sat across me. I handed them water, they handed me a small, blue bound book. It had an unusual smell, its white pages were covered in strong black ink, and it was unlike any other book I had ever owned or touched...

So yes, it is way more fun to write that then a research paper, unless you get to research this kind of stuff. Yes, I am lucky, or perhaps I just know how to pick a project.

jumper

There are a few things they don't tell you until you become an upperclassman about college.

One:
You have less and less finals. I'm not sure if this is just the degree I'm going for, or if having all/most of the University requirements finished yields this.  Anyway, I am so happy about having only one and a half finals in May.  I say half because the second one is optional and for those who either missed a test or want to drop a bad test grade.  Since this is in science I'll probably be taking it.  If you don't know this my brain cannot take in math and sometimes science.  It has been frustrating me since age five. 

Two:
That they finally start teaching you the good stuff, the fun stuff, the practical stuff.  Case in point, my soror who is an elementary education major had an entire lesson on what to wear in the classroom.  Hello, that is so practical.  The professor showed slides of super models traipsing down the runway and said, "now they look pretty, but those clothes are not very conducive to the learning environment."  She then showed how to make sure your cleavage is under control, but doing a front check in the mirror, and doing the same with your bum.  I am laughing so hard over this, especially as I start to think about what teachers wore when I was younger...

Then my roomie pipes in: "jumpers"

But I then am on another train of thought.  Did you know that jumpers are back now? I remember when the denim, a-line ones were really popular (1996?) I was ten years old and had one for school.  Those were pretty sad fashion times for me, but the jumpers now are really, really cute.  I want one.  Check it out:

Woah, what if you wore that to class?!?

"hurry up porkchop"

that's what my mom says to me sometimes.  it cracks me up.  I have a lot to get done right now, and so this entry will suffice as my list:
•get off this computer, out of the bed, and into the shower
•eat breakfast/lunch (whatever you want to call it)
•decide what is going home this afternoon from my room
•study until mom comes
•check out the new scrapspace that is now mine in my parent's newly remodeled house!!!

and with that my face says: have a productive Saturday peeps!!!

PS:
4 days until finals are over.

the good news/the bad news

It has commenced.  Final season. 

The last day of classes is Tomorrow. I am worn, and tired of waking up early to trudge through piles of (albeit lovely) snow.  I want to sleep, sleep, sleep all day long and never get out of my flannel sheets.

But until the 18th none of that will be a reality. 

Just two finals this semester (the other two projects are done).  That is the good news.  The not-so-good-news is that the finals are Math and French.  Kill me now. 

Was supposed to start on making flashcards last night until Jana came over and along with Claire the three of us commenced on what turned into a three hour conversation.  Where does the time go when you are with friends?  I looked at the clock and it said: 1:30 then thought, we couldn't of talked for that long.  Yeah, and I got nothing done to prove it.

But, at least I got to eat Brie at our holiday dinner.

Me studying at my desk last week, when I wasn't so sleepy.

Spring 2008

One of the numerous perks of being an upperclassman is the chance to register a lot earlier for classes than the rest of the University body.

So, without further ado here is my spring 2008 line up:
Comm 3401: Introduction to Comm Theory
Comm 1313W: Analysis of Argument (something tells me, this class won't be a challenge ; )
Geography 1403 + Lab Section: Biogeography of the Global Garden.  Lord help me, I do not do science and math.  Agh.
History 3615W: Early European Women. This will be fantastic, and oh-so-easy. Counts towards my minor.
Writ 1301: University Writing. Just a requirement I need to get done, should be easy, too.

Total credits: 17

Perfect load.  I won't have classes until 10am MWF.  I hate getting up early, I have to drag myself out of bed for my 9am class as it is. So, whoop for an extra hour of sleep! No classes Tuesday (except at night), and no classes Thursday.  So I'm predicting I'll work Tuesday and Thursday during the day and not nights anymore (which is what I currently do).  We shall see.  This is the first time since my Freshman year that I'll have such a nice schedule.  I love it!