I have graduated from college. Granted, I won't be able to pick up my diploma until I have paid quite a few dollars to both the library and the health center; however, I am standing on the breathe-easy end of an arduous college career, and life is looking pretty damn good. And to think, I almost transferred/dropped out after my first semester, which had a little bit to do with French IV and living in the dorms, and a lot to do with the terror that was Acting I.
Having grown up a bit, I now realize how formative and useful that class was, but at the time, I wanted to die every time I walked down the hill from my dorm to Murphy for Acting. I had never quite felt like such a waste of space as when I did scenes for that class. Yet nostalgia kicks in, as it has a tendency to do, and now I remember even the worst moments of this class with some amount of fondness. One memory now stands out as particularly funny/awkward: I had been paired with Andrew for the first time (we did two scenes together in that class, admittedly an oversight made by the teacher, but one that I think helped to foster our eventual friendship), and we made plans to meet on a Sunday morning to rehearse the pecan scene from Crimes of the Heart. That Saturday night, however, I spent with Adam, drinking a concoction of frozen orange juice concentrate and vanilla vodka that Adam had dubbed the "Get a Girl Drunk." It lived up to its name, I slept curled in a little ball on Adam's bed, and when I awoke the next morning in pools of my own sweat (not vomit, thank God), I had only moments to spare before I had to meet Andrew on Memorial Hill. I arrived, a vision in Hangover, hiding behind sunglasses, contacts gooey and fighting to hold their grip on my eyeballs. And there was Andrew, waiting for me on a bench: fresh, morning-faced, clearly showered, and obviously arrived directly from church. As we rehearsed in the sun, I did my damnedest to stay far enough away from him that he wouldn't be overpowered by my morning breath or boozy sweat, and became increasingly wary of just how lovely and pristine he seemed. He seemed equally wary of me, clearly for different reasons. Who would have guessed that he would end up being one of my very best friends from college? Well, as of that Sunday, definitely not me. Fate, though, had her way with us, and threw us together again and again until we had no choice but to get each other's backs.
Anyhow. College was hard. I learned an incredible amount of both useful and useless things, due in part to a few stellar teachers, and even more so to a bunch of amazing collegues. I know a lot more about the world, and have developed my artistic whatnot. You know, all those things you're supposed to do as student. We'll see how much my education has prepared me for life-from-now-on. Regardless, I powered through some rooooouuuugh patches, enjoyed a lot of people, places, and things, and couldn't ask for much more than what I got.
Last night my cousin Jordan and I had a graduation party at my aunt's house. The weather was perfect, the food delicious, the guests congratulatory and overwhelmingly attractive (my relatives kept asking me if I had any friends that weren't gorgeous. I didn't do it on purpose, but truly, I have a rash of extremely beautiful friends.) I wore a pretty party dress and had the pleasure of flitting from one guest to another as if I was the host without having to do any of the pre-party dirty work. I ate quiche and drank beer and opened presents (lots of great cards, wine, chocolate, bubble bath, tea, a journal, cookies, and thanks to the kindness and generosity of my lovely family, my very own G4, on which I currently type. I'm not bragging, I'm just very excited). All I had to do was make it through five years at the University. Yeah, that. Okay, okay, I'm clearly proud of myself. Deal with it.
Today I sang songs out in the backyard with my father and had a bittersweet last meal with Lalalalaura before we head our separate ways for awhile. However, I gathered from the tone of last night's party and today's activities that while the daily routine is about to drastically change, my life-in-general is headed somewhere pretty awesome. So, I'm gonna keep on keepin' on, and I'll see what happens.
Love,
-b
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