I'm graduating?

I recently reread a few of my blog posts (okay, I will be honest, I was procrastinating from writing a paper on analyzing a-bungarotoxin) and I realized how much has changed since London. One year ago today, I went  to the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and a tree lighting in Trafalgar Square. That week I had gone to the V&A, Sir John Soane's museum, Westminster, and had tea in a crypt, saw the changing of the guard, went to borough market, Abbery Road, 221B Baker Street, and the Hyde Park Winter carnival. That was one week! I don't remember being exhausted or not sleeping but goodness that is a lot! It's also ridiculous to reread these blog posts because in the December blog posts, I didn't even write about walking by Big Ben, the London Eye, Whitehall, the horse guards, etc. By December, seeing the sites of London was an everyday experience that was not even worth noting in my blog.  It's funny how time flies and how quickly I adapted to living in the metropolis of London.

But maybe the bigger difference is how much my thinking has changed. In London, we planned a few days ahead, maybe a week, but I rarely thought about what would happen in a month, much less a year. But now, here I am, and breakfast, lunch and dinner conversations always mention the future. The girls who I lived with in London are now applying for graduate schools and jobs, we ask questions like "Would I like to live in Arkansas? What about Seattle?" and friends respond saying things like "I could see you in San Francisco" or "I don't see you liking the East coast." Furthermore, we discuss good verbs to have on our resumes, should we say "assessed" or "analyzed", do jobs from the summer before college matter, and should I use size 12 or 11.5 font. There are good days and bad, one day someone's letters of recommendation is missing, another day someone gets an interview, rejections, waitlists, and acceptances are becoming a large part of our lives. Some days we tread lightly at a meal, knowing a key acceptance or rejection is due that day, other days we try to pretend that the real world doesn't exist and we immerse ourselves in a discussion of who we would eat first if we were trapped on a desert island.

As for me, I "graduated" on Thursday. We had a nice catered dinner and got a goodie bag with a Grinnell mug and water bottle.

I still have two weeks of classes, but I am one step closer to finishing my Bachelor's degree. I know officially know that next year I will be in school to become an Occupational Therapist. Luckily, the time I have spent with OTs has reassured me that helping individuals become more independent and improve in their activities of daily living will be a satisfying, challenging and exciting job. I can't wait to start this part of my life but I am first going to enjoy my last six months in Grinnell! 

My mom somehow knows how to pack a care package that simultaneously says "I know you are an adult" (socks and fancy snacks) and "you are still a kid" (punching balloons, flying helicopters, light up toys, cotton candy and gummy bears) all while saying "I love you". NOTE: This care package also included a box of RitzBitz Peanut Butter. I was really excited to get these and have a snack while in class. I noticed the box was open but oh well! But then the bag was open. The person sitting next to me reassured me that my mom must have gotten hungry and grabbed a few to eat. So I ate one. It was horrible and stale but I was in class so I couldn't spit it out. I turned the box to look at the best by date- MAR 2014. THEY EXPIRED 9 MONTHS AGO! So I threw them away and they are not pictured here. But otherwise an A+ care package.