You've got every right, To a beautiful life. Come on!

Here we go, my last real Lehigh post for this blog.  For the sake of full disclosure, I should mentioned that I am writing this on a plane the day after graduation with the intention of posting this online when I get back to Los Angeles later this afternoon. 

So picking up where I think I left off last time.  We went to Ocean City, MD for Senior Week the week before graduation and reunion weekend so Thursday to Thursday.  It was nice to have friends in the car with me for a drive like that because I normally have to do drives of similar distance alone and it was nice to have someone to talk to.  Anyone who has a chance to get to go on a senior trip should take all advantage.  It was nice to have a week off to just spend time with the friends who I am about to leave since everything will be different now.  We met new people, got lucky with far better weather than was forecasted and had a lot of fun.  We were supposed to have a lot of rain and clouds but we had a fair amount of nice weather, which meant good things for getting tan for gradation. 

The weekend before graduation is reunion weekend meaning that all of the classes celebrating significant reunions (ie 70 years) come back to campus and celebrate with their classes and essentially welcome the new class into the alumni world.  There is a parade of classes, which starts with the current graduating class and then goes from oldest to youngest (so we started with 70^th reunion) and leaves the 50^th reunion for last since they are the class that adopted us.  It’s strange to think that in 2057, I can go back and be a part of the group that adopts the class of 2061.  There are all sorts of activities to do but my weekend included a LOT of packing.  I never thought I would have accumulated so much stuff over only four years!

On Sunday, I had the unique opportunity of watching my best friend become a commissioned officer in the United States Army.  She and eleven other graduations were commissioned as second Lieutenants who will handle a variety of things from infantry to personnel all over the country.  It was cool to watch because her dad was the one to issue her oath to her since he is a retired naval officer and the requirement is to be an officer in the US Military.  He did stand out a bit in the midst of all of the other Army officers in his dress whites.  My best friend is an amazing person and I am so proud of her for taking on this commitment.  It was really nice to be able to share in her special day with her.

Monday morning, my housemates and I were up really early (well, like 7ish) in order to get up to the stadium for graduation.  Our robes were rentals that we were told might run if they got wet so it was a risk since it looked like rain and the forecast was for thunderstorms all day and the ceremony was outdoors.  We all graduate by college (meaning CBE versus Arts and Sciences etc) and then the split us up by half of the alphabet so I realized that I have very few friends in my business school in my half of the alphabet so I almost decided to just graduate with the other half of the alphabet in Arts and Sciences. 

Having been to graduations in the past, I was worried at how long it would take since there were over 1,700 people graduating and we all had to walk across the stage.  Most other schools do main processionals with a speaker or two and then departmental or college graduations but we have the entire university graduate together which I like because I got to watch my friends graduate even if it meant that the process was a little long.  I think our class president stole the show with his speech about how everything was changing but also addressing the question of how we are going to be defined as people and as a generation.  Our keynote speaker only spoke for about ten minutes, which was great because she got her point across but also realized that we were being rained on at this point.  There was enough rain that it started to drip off my cap onto my gown but luckily, they were wrong and the gown didn’t bleed and stain. 

HOODS ARE CONFUSING!  We have an entire group of collegiate graduates (or candidates for graduation as we were called then) and none of us could figure out how to correctly put on these hoods!  They came with instructions but the instructions only defined how to put them on by the basics, not how they were supposed to look when we were finished.  We improvised a fair amount but I think we all looked pretty good in the end; well as good as you can look in giant brown robes and silly hats.  Part of me wants a PhD just for the crazy plushy hat. 

I never considered myself the type of student that was really close to my professors but it was interesting listening to my parents recounting watching me graduate.  Our ushers are faculty members so they are all in their academic regalia and one of the ushers right next the podium which are names were read was one of the professors who joined us on our freshman GC trip to India and he smiled at me, told me I would do well in life and gave me a huge hug.  Two seconds later, I handed my card to one of my professors from this past semester, she had been just taking cards and reading them but she took mine, read it and then looked up and smiled at me.  It might be weird, but I felt really good in that moment like despite all of the uncertainty in my life, if these people thought I would be successful then it must be possible.  It got even better when I ran into one of my favorite professors, Jill Brown (seriously, take every class possible with her, she’s AWESOME) and she had nice things to say in front of my parents about me but she is such a genuine person and I know she expects great things of me and for her, I want to accomplish great things. 

So that brings me to this moment, flying somewhere between Philadelphia and Nashville on my way back to the land of Menchies, In-N-Out and Coffee Bean with no definite idea of what comes next.  Maybe I will post on this one again about what did end up coming next but I have a feeling Lehigh will unlink my blog before I find out. 

On that note, if you have read my blog, try those of the other student bloggers.  Everyone has a different Lehigh experience, it’s not an education factory but so much more than that and just as no two people are exactly the same, neither are two Lehigh experiences.  Maybe I will give one more final recap of my four years when I have a little more space from the experience but again, I have no idea what the future looks like so we shall see.

I Never Want To Fall Apart

So using this blog as my usual procrastination tool, here I am.  I know I still have a fair amount of work left to do today since I got nothing done yesterday due to other engagements but I just keep having moments where I sit here and think, "I should tell more people about this moment."  Right now, I am a little annoyed because I am in the serious library in the quiet section where everyone who does not want silence has headphones in but the place should be silent otherwise.  However, there are two people talking, lacking all hushed tones necessary to not get the evil looks from EVERYONE else.  Someone also left their cellphone on ring, a big faux pax in the library but to make it worse rather then immediately silencing it and taking it outside to take the call, she proceeds to take the call inside.  I don't know if this would bother me so much except that it is the weekend before finals when getting a seat in the library is an ordeal in itself due to demand and everyone is here to get work done, not just have a quiet place to see friends as is sometimes the case during other weeks.  

If I tell you all my plan for the rest of the day, the likelihood of achieving it is greater since then I feel like I am being held accountable to someone besides myself.  I have to finish my section of the group deliverables for project management then I am going to finish my question set for 306 then work on my study guide for global studies.  I can finish the study guide and work on the paper tomorrow but I want to get as far ahead as possible so I can get some more sleep tonight since even the guy at Johnnys told me I was looking tired.  That is never a good sign since he sees me maybe twice a week.

I need to have dinner at home since I am trying to finish eating everything I have in the freezer at the moment, I am currently down to some frozen pizza, pirogues, waffles and cake.  I think I may have one other lean cuisine type thing.  

At the moment I miss three things about the Georgetown library, one is coffee, two is the company and three is the lack of windows.  Their coffee place was conveniently located near the table that our group took over and open almost the entire time I was there with good snacks and fantastic coffee options.  I miss Ashley and the others and our (almost) 24 hour study table as all of us tried to finish our research papers, issue papers and finals.  They all provided a much needed break every once in a while and constant security which was necessary for food runs.  Finally, it is a beautiful day outside right now and all of the windows in this library are just showing me what I am missing out on.  Sitting in Georgetown's library meant getting a glimpse of the outside world but no real constant taunting like I am getting right now.  I just want to be past all of these things being due so I can enjoy the sun and go do fun stuff.

I do get to look forward to a little time in DC next week to help Liz and see Reagan for his birthday.  Very excited since that should also be the end of my college career by then.