Blind Faith?

I graduated from college yesterday! What a crazy thing to finally write and see.



I had to wake up at 4:30 so we (my mom and I) could leave at 5:30, so i would arrive on time (8:30) for the 10:30 commencement ceremony. It was brutal. By the time we arrived i was in no mood for my moms trigger happy finger on the camera. "Stand by that fountain" "Smile" "A real smile" "Did i take the picture" "I didn't take the picture" "is this camera on?"



After 15 minutes of that i was done with the camera and any more damn fountains. Truth be told, i did not want to walk at my graduation. I'm not a fan of commencement ceremonies. I believe they are long, drawn out, and hella boring. This day was more for my mom than anyone else, including me.

Because it was a august commencement there was only 694 graduates (undergrads & graduate students). Luckily since my last name starts with H i was on the second row. Unfortunately i was wedged because a really tall girl and a really tall guy, and i looked small and out of place. I didn't recognize anyone from my class or clubs i was in(for a short time), so i played some game on my phone and listened the band butchered Hey Jude.



As soon as i got to the ceremonies i noticed that everyone had a some weird badge on their black robe. My robe was plain black with no nice badge or special colors. Apparently if i would have just joined the honor society (who has been sending me letters for 3 semesters) i would have gotten a stupid lovely badge to adorn my robe.



I couldn't help but stare at all the graduate students who had these nice robes with a color satchel around the collar. At that moment i realized that i'll have to apply to grad school again, so i can graduate in a nice robe. I know i shouldn't base my academic career on earning a nice color satchel, but hey on the pro and con list of going to graduate school: graduating with a satchel is definitely on the pro side.

The actual ceremony itself was short. The new president of the university(this cool guy in his mid 50's who made a wicked awesome speech) said it would last only 80 minutes. And it pretty much did last that long. After walking the stage, and listening to a crap load of other names being called out, it was all over. My mom and I planned to head back home, but my grandma said she planned a dinner for me with a bunch of other family members. I expected some sweet graduation money, so even though we were both tired and in no mood for a party...we went.

It ended up being pretty cool. Since my medical career was over before it began, i wasn't sure of the reaction from my family, since i've been talking about being a doctor since i was 3. Not that i particularly cared, but you get a different reaction when you say "I'm going to be a doctor" rather than when you admit "i'm going to be a writer". However, my great uncles (my grandma's brothers) were hella excited about having a potential novelist in the family. And not in that fake pretentious way.

Great Uncle Robert (the reformed bad boy of the family who has become my favorite great uncle because of his humor and wit) was grinning from ear to ear. He wanted to know all about writing and what i wanted to do. "You're going to be in the history books (I'm guessing literary history)" he said. That's a far stretch from the truth, but it was a good feeling, especially since no one from my family (excluding my mom) has read anything i've written. There was a blind faith in my possibilities which i didn't expect. I told him i'd send him something in advance for him to read. It's the least i can do since he did give me a nice card, encouragement, and money.

I spent the rest of the night entertaining a 7 year old. At 7 she can apparently do magic, is the strongest women in the world, and is going to open up a restaurant solely selling Lemonade. I helped her draw up a menu.

At one point in the evening she told me that she could magically turn into anything she wanted, like a shape shifter or something (my term not hers). A cat, a dog, a snake. She brought me some invisible powers, thrust them my way and i was apparently equipped with this ability too.

7 year old: Do you want to transform into a cat?
Me: I've never been a cat before. But okay.

Yes. I really am a college graduate. It's hard to believe i know.

All in all it was a good weekend. I should be in the NYC area on Wednesday, ending my chapter here and starting my new thing in a couple of days. I'm not as nervous now, i'm trying to transform the nerves into productivity. That's what i keep telling myself anyway.

I guess i have a little blind faith in myself these days too. Whatever keeps the nerves at bay.

Time to take a nap. I have some swimming and gymnastics to watch tonight and i have to be rested for that.