I Graduated
Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
I took my comprehensive exam for my MA in English on May 10. I didn't get the results in until this week. I would have been even more on pins and needles if a kindly staff member hadn't clued me in to the fact that I passed. As it was, I didn't get my letter until Thursday.
I actually graduated on Saturday in front of my mom, my uncle, my boyfriend, and some of my best friends. I then got to have an awesome lunch with my favorite folks. It doesn't really feel real yet. I don't know that I ever expected to be done; it always seemed like something on the horizon, or a mirage on the desert. I've been acting as though I passed in the last few weeks out of necessity. There were so many things I had to get done that I couldn't wait or worry too much about not passing. But now that the big day has come and gone, there's a particular silence - maybe it's just the underlying silence of Sundays - as though I'm just getting done exhaling a long breath.
After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
The inhale is next. I am taking some well earned days off and then I am utterly redoing my resume, putting up a corresponding web site, cleaning out the email I use for business purposes, and going shopping for a new wardrobe. I will also be ressurecting my job hunting spreadsheet and sending out applications like crazy.
My mom wants us to get studio pictures done, and then there'll be thank-you cards to write. I've already done a bit of organizing in my house and I'm hoping to get rid of old furniture and usher in some new stuff very soon.
But all of that is for later. For now, I try to remember what it means to relax.
I took my comprehensive exam for my MA in English on May 10. I didn't get the results in until this week. I would have been even more on pins and needles if a kindly staff member hadn't clued me in to the fact that I passed. As it was, I didn't get my letter until Thursday.
I actually graduated on Saturday in front of my mom, my uncle, my boyfriend, and some of my best friends. I then got to have an awesome lunch with my favorite folks. It doesn't really feel real yet. I don't know that I ever expected to be done; it always seemed like something on the horizon, or a mirage on the desert. I've been acting as though I passed in the last few weeks out of necessity. There were so many things I had to get done that I couldn't wait or worry too much about not passing. But now that the big day has come and gone, there's a particular silence - maybe it's just the underlying silence of Sundays - as though I'm just getting done exhaling a long breath.
After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
The inhale is next. I am taking some well earned days off and then I am utterly redoing my resume, putting up a corresponding web site, cleaning out the email I use for business purposes, and going shopping for a new wardrobe. I will also be ressurecting my job hunting spreadsheet and sending out applications like crazy.
My mom wants us to get studio pictures done, and then there'll be thank-you cards to write. I've already done a bit of organizing in my house and I'm hoping to get rid of old furniture and usher in some new stuff very soon.
But all of that is for later. For now, I try to remember what it means to relax.