Final hour musings...
I don't know why I always wait until 10 minutes before Palio closes to start updating my LJ. I am sitting here with my friend Ross while he does Differential Equations homework (yuck) and I let my half unread Presocratics Reader lay on the table mocking my illusions of productivity. I'm kind of enjoying the tension to be honest.
So, there is big news to be shared with all who would hear. Many of you who read this journal may be familiar with the saga that is my collegiate career. A quick primer for the uninitiated:
I began college in the fall of 1998, switched from a premed chemistry major to a religious studies major in the spring of 2000 (losing many, many credits towards graduation), and when the time came for me to graduate in spring of 2002, I was still 9 credits short. This is partially because I was wrestling with some serious faith issues and my concentration in school was seriously jacked. However, it was mostly because I was a lazy sloth my senior year. I think I only passed 9 or 12 credits of the more than 24 that I enrolled in for senior year. I failed a couple and received incompletes in three.
I took a summer school class that cost me almost $2000 the summer after my senior year, and then I had no more money for classes. I had opportunities to make up work in the incomplete classes, and I did not take them. In short, I blew off four years of work and full scholarship in laziness. I spent a year in St. Louis after my senior year, living in the fantasy that I would do the work necessary to graduate, but then I moved back to Little Rock in September of 2003 with no idea how I would finish up the saga.
Those who interacted with me in the time after the summer of 2002 have seen me go through a range of emotions regarding my schooling. In short, I mostly didn't care. But, out here in Portland I've been hindered in pursuing work with teens in social service because I lack a degree. So, I've found myself at a crossroads. Also, the more I read at Reed, the more excited I get about doing graduate work (but I still hate papers with a passion...not sure what to do with that), and there are some great seminaries out here. In short, I've begun at last to desire my degree.
Enter the wedding of my friend Cristin I mentioned last post. I had planned to go to this wedding for a long time, but my financial status did not allow me to go. A beautiful, beautiful person who reads this journal came up with the finances for me to go, and I was able to arrange the week in St. Louis as well. So, to that person, THANK YOU! In that week, I hoped to make arrangements for me to finish.
My hopes were exceeded. Folks, I have had a lot of good feelings. My senior year in high school, my football team was undefeated in conference and we went to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. I finally moved to Portland after five years of frustrations. But, nothing felt as good as hearing from Dean Kennedy on the phone that I had been certified to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis this December. Words fail me. But, at last the ordeal is done!
So, thanks for your prayers and encouragement. I feel the world has opened up. We'll see where it leads...
So, there is big news to be shared with all who would hear. Many of you who read this journal may be familiar with the saga that is my collegiate career. A quick primer for the uninitiated:
I began college in the fall of 1998, switched from a premed chemistry major to a religious studies major in the spring of 2000 (losing many, many credits towards graduation), and when the time came for me to graduate in spring of 2002, I was still 9 credits short. This is partially because I was wrestling with some serious faith issues and my concentration in school was seriously jacked. However, it was mostly because I was a lazy sloth my senior year. I think I only passed 9 or 12 credits of the more than 24 that I enrolled in for senior year. I failed a couple and received incompletes in three.
I took a summer school class that cost me almost $2000 the summer after my senior year, and then I had no more money for classes. I had opportunities to make up work in the incomplete classes, and I did not take them. In short, I blew off four years of work and full scholarship in laziness. I spent a year in St. Louis after my senior year, living in the fantasy that I would do the work necessary to graduate, but then I moved back to Little Rock in September of 2003 with no idea how I would finish up the saga.
Those who interacted with me in the time after the summer of 2002 have seen me go through a range of emotions regarding my schooling. In short, I mostly didn't care. But, out here in Portland I've been hindered in pursuing work with teens in social service because I lack a degree. So, I've found myself at a crossroads. Also, the more I read at Reed, the more excited I get about doing graduate work (but I still hate papers with a passion...not sure what to do with that), and there are some great seminaries out here. In short, I've begun at last to desire my degree.
Enter the wedding of my friend Cristin I mentioned last post. I had planned to go to this wedding for a long time, but my financial status did not allow me to go. A beautiful, beautiful person who reads this journal came up with the finances for me to go, and I was able to arrange the week in St. Louis as well. So, to that person, THANK YOU! In that week, I hoped to make arrangements for me to finish.
My hopes were exceeded. Folks, I have had a lot of good feelings. My senior year in high school, my football team was undefeated in conference and we went to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. I finally moved to Portland after five years of frustrations. But, nothing felt as good as hearing from Dean Kennedy on the phone that I had been certified to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis this December. Words fail me. But, at last the ordeal is done!
So, thanks for your prayers and encouragement. I feel the world has opened up. We'll see where it leads...