The last night in Shepherdstown was one I'll never forget. I've been back for just over a week now, and I'm still daydreaming about what a hilariously entertaining final night I had. I didn't realize how much I was going to miss everyone until we were all congregated in the back room of our favorite hangout singing "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" at the top of our lungs (with our favorite professor in our midst). I got to meet up with new friends, including my friend from my Aquatic Science classes, and talked about life with a friend who is California-bound. We sang songs, had a few drinks, played some hilarious rounds of "Never have I Ever," and at the end of the night had some extremely emotional farewells. Those were the worst part, I'll not lie. It was hard watching my new best friend walk down the snow covered streets of Shepherdstown, leaving me behind even though I feel like I'm doing the one doing that to her by having officially graduated (I got the confirmation letter today).
Here at home in Elkins, walking the snowy streets after dark is something I love to do. Most of the time hardly any cars are out, and I can walk in the hushed silence as a blanket of snow mutes the outside world. I love going to the river and watching the moonlight on the rapids from the foot bridges.
After my friends left that last night, I wasn't ready to go back to my dorm, and I ended up walking the snowy streets of Shepherdstown with an old friend. It was strange, entertaining, and, I feel, highly appropriate/borderline classically ironic for my last night in town. I literally saw a bit of everything from my 4 1/2 year college career in that one night.
Saying goodbye to friends the next day was difficult, more difficult than my trip home at 12:30 the next day (NEVER try to traverse Martinsburg at lunch hour, especially on a Friday- it took forever to get out of town). When I finally did make it home, I just wanted to curl up with my lovely cat, Ginny, and sleep for a few days.
Alas, that was not an option, but I did get to spend time with my family, see my pony (and start a new form of training with her), visit with friends, rearrange my room, decorate the inside of the house for Christmas, clean out the flowerbeds in the backyard, decorate the exterior of our house for Christmas, and begin my new job as a bookkeeper at a bank. Yeah, I've been slightly busy since my return home, but my rearranged room is awesome! It even has Christmas lights. :)
Speaking of returns, if I have one more person tell me, "Welcome to the real world," I fear I will no longer be responsible for my actions (again, just figurative language of course). What a lot of the people I've spoken to do not seem to understand is that as new college graduates we are not taking our first unsteady steps into the foreign and blinding world of bills, vehicle payments, and career opportunities. Most students work at least part-time to maintain an income while taking courses. The best friend I left last week? She has a house, a car, a job an hour away, and two dogs in addition to a family that lives in the area. Almost all of those things cost money at one time or another. Oh, yeah, and she's an amazing student....I mentioned that right? Another good friend of mine that just graduated with me in December is raising her kids at the same time. Life has changed quite a bit since most of my well-wishers have been in school (those that went in the first place), and I don't think they realize how insulting their congratulatory cliche can be to those that have busted their butts to afford the loan payments they will be saddled with for the next 10 years (minimum) of their lives. It's not a welcome to the real world I need-- it's a welcome back.
And speaking of being back and continuing the work I was a part of before/during college, I have started a new training style with Kit that with only one session under our belt has already proven entertaining and successful. It's a type of liberty training, and basically all I'm doing is lunging her without any ropes or halters involved. I say it was entertaining because Kit pitched an almighty fit at the beginning of the session, rearing, bucking, and loping around the paddock before settling into nice trot and circling me. By the end, I could move the circle and she'd keep me at the center. She'd also come into the middle when I signaled to her and went back out in the opposite direction when I sent her away. I was impressed with how good she made me look.
It wasn't without her fits though, which made me laugh and made for some really great photos. At the end of our session, my friend and I took the horses out for a short stroll, and I rode bareback-- my first time out on the road/trails bareback since I got this horse almost four years ago. It was quite an achievement.
I'm happy to be home but sad to leave my friends behind. I'm determined to return to Shepherdstown as much as I possibly can during the spring semester (it's going to take a while before I stop referring to the year in terms of semesters). Until then, I wish all of my friends over there, and all of you reading this piece from wherever you are, a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or a Happy December the 25th, depending on what/if you celebrate. How about a girl and her cat around the Christmas tree to top off this holiday blog post?
This post is devoted to the people, the events, and the tragedies that made up my final semester as an undergraduate. The quotes may not mean much to those readers who don't know these wonderful people or the amazing classes I was enrolled in, but this was the best way I could think to sum up my final semester. So hats off to this final week of finals.
American Literature:
The hilariously enthusiastic professor:
Commenting on a student's past place of work: "Exxon? They break stuff...like the world..."
On Emerson's Self Reliance: "Dude, let me enjoy it!"
On the end of Walden: "You can be the bug!"
Questions Hester's decision to return at the end of The Scarlet Letter: "Why didn't she leave? Where would she go? Hop on a Grey Hound? ....a literal gray dog at that time, by the way..."
On Eva and Tom's friendship in Uncle Tom's Cabin: "She steals his Christ thunder."
A list of instructions on how to avoid blame for the death of someone (jokingly of course) with reference to
Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue": "First, rent an orangutan. Next, teach it to shave..."
On Kate Chopin's setting in "The Storm": "Ye olde 7/11."
On the "catch all" essay question as an option for our final: *dramatic voice* "My final is a dance."
On Pudd'nhead Wilson: "What's so fascinating is that this book is a mess! Messiness can be good!"
Student's response: "Remember that when you grade our final essays."
Most important quote of the semester from this professor: "...ask for help, lean on each other, and know that you are loved."
I'm going to miss that class and that professor so much.
Spanish III:
The disdainful, yet incredibly attractive, Spanish professor from Alicante:
"Love is always temporary."
Yeah, Spanish class was pretty straight forward.
Greek Mythology:
The amazing professor that considers it his life mission to open every person's eyes to the world around them:
On mythology:
"We all have a gene for hair, but we have different hair. We all have myths, but the myths are different."
"What is a dragon but a woman with wings?"
"Are myths reflections of the anxieties of society the way dreams are reflections of our own anxieties?"
"Stories- do they help us understand life or do they help us escape it? We constantly distract ourselves from processing our anxieties."
"Behind every hero is the ego of an author."
On life/mythology:
"This is what makes us different- we have a should."
"Laughter happens at the moment that you've just saved yourself from the abyss."
"You can only laugh when it's not painful anymore."
"When you get to know someone almost always they are not who you though they were."
On a dramatic reading of Antigone: "I'm the leader...you guys be the prophets!"
Student on reading "Medea": "In the beginning I pity her, but then she came in like a wrecking ball...."
The Ups:
"You can start on Monday, December 16th."
"Congratulations on completing your Capstone presentations."
"You two are both superheroes for getting through these last several months."
The Downs:
"We've got different goals in mind."
"Feel free to come visit."
"You're perfect in every way..."
Counselor in a false cheery voice:"Congratulations on your graduation."
Me, in response: "Congratulations on having $30,000 worth of student loans."
One of the most painful experiences in my life: "Dear Students, I am deeply saddened to share with you...."
And finally, the friends without whom I'd never have survived this semester:
My fellow Appalachian, country girl that always has my back:
"Pickles are liars."
Our favorite drink at the Lost Dog in Shepherdstown: "Wet dogs- or moist canines."
On the night we tore up Knutti Hall looking for her car keys: "After this night, I need a drink. TO THE MECK!!!"
"Heading to Montana, with either mountain men or no men. Either one is fine with me."
The middle of finals week, talking to the tree outside the Lost Dog- there's a pattern forming when it comes to the strange things we say in this place: "Tree! You're so pretty and I want to hug you, but you're wet, soo...."
Me on leaving the Lost Dog (a tea shop) and returning to campus: "I stepped into a strange world, if only briefly."
The man that I can always rely on for a good in depth conversation about the most recent episodes:
Back and forth on Facebook messaging while watching the Supernatural mid-season finale:
Me: "AHHHH!! WTF WTF!!! WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF!!!!!!!"
Him: "I feel...Hurt and empty....I'm crying."
"La vie Boheme!"
And then as the first person I see after hearing about the death of our friend: "Did you check your email? Are you okay?" <- that second question meant so much to me
The goofy roommates:
The computer engineering roommate as she works on splitting the screen between the TV and her laptop: "I broke the computer!"
Before each and every movie, TV show, VGX awards show we watched together: "POPCORN!!"
Watching the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead: "Duunn...duuunn....duunnn...duunn..." (singing along to the governor's theme)
The roommate of two years whose advice I could not survive without:
"Let me sing you the SONG OF MY PEOPLE!!" (proceeds to play kazoo version of The Hobbit's "Misty Mountains")
Her response to me bitching about the main character of my Capstone novella refusing to cooperate and tell me his life story (because our characters tell us their story and we write them down and she responded as only a fellow writer could): Oh, he's just trying to be difficult.
The new friend whose "catch up conversations" I'm going to miss dearly next semester:
Me mimicking the religious man (screaming a sermon of hellfire and brimstone to the entirety of East Campus) by shouting dramatically at a friend across the street: "Are you ready for His coming?! Are you ready?!"
His very serious response after a look of confusion: "No, I've got more important things to worry about like my calculus grade."
"Here we go with that subservient thing again."
My response: :p usually after a round of speechless sputtering
Walking to the library, just talking about life: "For what you and I want, we're going to have to leave our families and our friends behind."
Me: "That's gonna be the hard part."
I couldn't make it through this semester without those that dealt with the tears, the expletives, and supplied the smiles and laughter that drove me through this last semester. They say you make friends in college that will never leave you. I'm hoping that holds true when it comes to these people. Thanks for an amazing final semester, despite the tragedies that each of us faced. I'm not sure how I'm going to make the transition into this next part of my life, but I'm dragging the relationships we've made with me. I promise you all that. :)
I've returned to school after a busy Thanksgiving week and, as usual, I did not gotten nearly as much work completed as I wanted to. :( I have zero discipline when it comes to working on school assignments at home-- I have no idea how I did it for the twelve years before college. It was nice working on what assignments I did work on with a cat or two curled up at my feet or on the couch next to me.
I mean, look at that face! How can you work with this little girl snuggled up next to you?
Thanksgiving week consisted of doing some goofy stunts with my horse, watching Catching Fire with my best friend, celebrating my first snowfall of the season, and spending plenty of time with my family. On Monday, I went to visit my horse, hoping I could get some cool pictures of the two of us. Since I was by myself, I set my camera up on a tripod, put the setting on a timer, and then rode Kit around the camera to start the timer. It was quite the entertaining trick. Kit, of course, had no idea why I kept riding her in circles, but she did what I wanted her to, and her only opposition was prancing and threatening to buck once or twice. It resulted in some good photos, and after a few test shots, she seemed to enjoy the challenge, especially since I was riding bareback, and she had a halter with connecting reins for a bridle. We ended up with some really amazing photos.
Going to see Catching Fire was such an enjoyable afternoon. My friend and I spent lunch catching up, and then made our way to the movie theater. The movie was amazingly difficult to watch because of how much it reminded me of southern West Virginia- our coal country. I can't wait for Mockingjay to come to theaters. The rest of my week consisted of working on my homework, reading a book or two, and decorating our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving. I can happily report that I did not take part in Black Friday or Grey/Brown Thursday (which by the way already has a name: THANKSGIVING!!!). In fact, I was so disgusted with how people act when it comes to shopping at this time of year that I can't even express it in words. I have no idea what kind of intense desire to to give gifts drives someone to use a taser: "I want to give that gift more than you do!" -_- I'll jump off of the tangent train there.
Yesterday, I completed and then presented my Senior English Capstone to the Honors Program. I have a second presentation tomorrow, in front of the English Department. The semester is definitely winding down. Only a few major papers, one creative writing project (for Greek Mythology) and two finals separate me from "the real world." I can't wait..........
Being back at home was interesting. Things are just beginning to change there. Trying to decide how I'm going to deal with the transition back home has been difficult. I have a feeling that what I've been expecting my return home to be like is far from what will be the immediate future. I did get a job over break, so at least that's covered. I have a feeling I'll be writing this blog beyond my graduation in two weeks. Transitioning won't be easy, but it's something that I think needs to be written. I'm actually beginning to realize the things about this campus and even college life in general that I'm going to be missing in two weeks. New friends are at the top of that list.
