done done and done
FIN.
Last week was, to put it lightly, hellacious. My last days at LSU were spent holed up in the delta office, typing frantically and sleeping on floors (I kid you not, I actually napped on the floor of the delta, my sweater as a pillow). On my last night, I was rewarded by walking out of Allen Hall to be greeted with snow...I took some video, smiled even teared up a bit at the beauty of it...only to take a 1 hour nap and wake up for my French final to find the ground thickly covered.
It was very very pretty and very unusual (probably the heaviest snow BR has had since 1987 or so)...but it was also a PAIN IN THE ASS. No one in Baton Rouge knows how to drive in snow. Also, I certainly wasn't equipped for it and since the only shoes in my arsenal are flip flops, converse and heels, I was forced to throw on my chucks and plod through with feet that were soaked within minutes. I spent most of my French final rubbing my toes together and had to come home and dip my feet in hot water to warm them up again.
My grades this semester were what I expected, though a teensy bit disappointing.
Lit. Capstone- A (I expected this but was still pleased, since my final paper was both late and not my best work. I would have understood a B, under the circumstances.
Poetry Capstone- A (In this one, i felt I deserved an A but almost thought I wouldn't get one, based on some grading scale that made it look like I had a B in the class, which I did not understand because I did EVERYTHING I was supposed to for that class and even went when we were leaving for ACL the same night!)
Criticism- B (Expected but I'm kind of peeved about this because I worked my ass off in this class and never got any grade other than an 86. The professor is notoriously hard and the subject matter is difficult too, but I can't help but feel as though I was a bit...dismissed. Though I kind of blew off the final project in exasperation, so I guess I got what I gave in the end.)
French- C (it probably sounds stupid to be excited about a C, but considering my basic inability to learn French, I am highly excited about my C. I probably could have gotten a B if I'd shown up to class more but this semester was a punishing one and I'm fine with taking a C in French for the A I got in my Capstones)
Library Science- A (Stupid class. Way more work than the 1 hour credit was worth-homework often took upwards of 2 hours and there were 12 assignments and two tests in a month and a half- and left me screaming at the computer more than once because of stupidly phrased assignment questions. I learned some useful information but I would rather have not taken that class even though it helped my GPA).
These last few days have been exhausting but fun...Friday, Ravi and I went to New Orleans to "secret shop" Zea's Restaurant, which meant I got a very nice 3-course meal for free. Saturday was spent Christmas shopping with my friend, Susan, during the day then two parties (my company one and a one at a friend's house) that night. Sunday was Ravi's Christmas company lunch at BJ's Brewhouse, a bit more shopping, dropping the Mac off for some minor repairs (I'm on Rav's computer right now) and then going out to my parents' house to get my New Car.
"New" here is referring to my mom's old 2002 Mazda Protege LX, so its not off-the-lot. But let me describe the state of my former vehicle to you (as it was when I relinquished it to my parents):
'94 Chevy Cheyenne Pickup (5-speed)
Power NOTHING (that means windows, locks, etc)
Non-functioning tape player
No A/C
Faulty fuses that reset the display every time the truck was started
Broken inside door handle (which meant rolling down the window and opening the door from the outside)
Missing side view mirrors (one missing from a Gustav branch, another that had the glass fall out randomly)
Until recently, a very faulty alternator
Bad tires
So yes, the car is a large improvement. It's pretty nice...it has a CD player and a sun/moonroof and a backseat and air conditioning and it doesn't set off car alarms when I pull into parking lots (I wish I was exaggerating this fact about the truck).
I graduate this Friday and I cannot tell you how excited I am about this...but also sad and a bit nostalgic. In many ways, I really discovered who I was and wanted to be during my undergrad years; I dealt with some of the worst moments of my life in these past 5 years and I came out alive and whole and better for it. So it's kind of a big deal to leave those moments in the past so concretely (excuse my generalities, but I'm sure all of you understand the largeness of these kinds of emotions). Plans for the future are a bit uncertain...I'm applying to both LSU and Tulane for their Master of Liberal Arts programs and we'll see what happens. Best case scenario for me is that Ravi gets into Pharm.D school at Xavier in NOLA and I get into Tulane and we move to New Orleans. If it happens differently than that, then we'll make decisions then.
Right now, I'm sitting in my pajamas, listening to my Al Green station on Pandora (which just played me Mr. Green himself, Marvin Gaye, and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes...I love Motown), about to wrap some Christmas presents and write some cards. Ravi is on his way home with Chinese takeout and I might start a load of laundry. A nice night in. :)
P.S. If you want a Christmas card, email me your address at smashingsparkles@gmail.com! Elis and Adam, I have you guys addresses already so you don't need to email me! My Christmas cards this year make me smile.
Last week was, to put it lightly, hellacious. My last days at LSU were spent holed up in the delta office, typing frantically and sleeping on floors (I kid you not, I actually napped on the floor of the delta, my sweater as a pillow). On my last night, I was rewarded by walking out of Allen Hall to be greeted with snow...I took some video, smiled even teared up a bit at the beauty of it...only to take a 1 hour nap and wake up for my French final to find the ground thickly covered.
It was very very pretty and very unusual (probably the heaviest snow BR has had since 1987 or so)...but it was also a PAIN IN THE ASS. No one in Baton Rouge knows how to drive in snow. Also, I certainly wasn't equipped for it and since the only shoes in my arsenal are flip flops, converse and heels, I was forced to throw on my chucks and plod through with feet that were soaked within minutes. I spent most of my French final rubbing my toes together and had to come home and dip my feet in hot water to warm them up again.
My grades this semester were what I expected, though a teensy bit disappointing.
Lit. Capstone- A (I expected this but was still pleased, since my final paper was both late and not my best work. I would have understood a B, under the circumstances.
Poetry Capstone- A (In this one, i felt I deserved an A but almost thought I wouldn't get one, based on some grading scale that made it look like I had a B in the class, which I did not understand because I did EVERYTHING I was supposed to for that class and even went when we were leaving for ACL the same night!)
Criticism- B (Expected but I'm kind of peeved about this because I worked my ass off in this class and never got any grade other than an 86. The professor is notoriously hard and the subject matter is difficult too, but I can't help but feel as though I was a bit...dismissed. Though I kind of blew off the final project in exasperation, so I guess I got what I gave in the end.)
French- C (it probably sounds stupid to be excited about a C, but considering my basic inability to learn French, I am highly excited about my C. I probably could have gotten a B if I'd shown up to class more but this semester was a punishing one and I'm fine with taking a C in French for the A I got in my Capstones)
Library Science- A (Stupid class. Way more work than the 1 hour credit was worth-homework often took upwards of 2 hours and there were 12 assignments and two tests in a month and a half- and left me screaming at the computer more than once because of stupidly phrased assignment questions. I learned some useful information but I would rather have not taken that class even though it helped my GPA).
These last few days have been exhausting but fun...Friday, Ravi and I went to New Orleans to "secret shop" Zea's Restaurant, which meant I got a very nice 3-course meal for free. Saturday was spent Christmas shopping with my friend, Susan, during the day then two parties (my company one and a one at a friend's house) that night. Sunday was Ravi's Christmas company lunch at BJ's Brewhouse, a bit more shopping, dropping the Mac off for some minor repairs (I'm on Rav's computer right now) and then going out to my parents' house to get my New Car.
"New" here is referring to my mom's old 2002 Mazda Protege LX, so its not off-the-lot. But let me describe the state of my former vehicle to you (as it was when I relinquished it to my parents):
'94 Chevy Cheyenne Pickup (5-speed)
Power NOTHING (that means windows, locks, etc)
Non-functioning tape player
No A/C
Faulty fuses that reset the display every time the truck was started
Broken inside door handle (which meant rolling down the window and opening the door from the outside)
Missing side view mirrors (one missing from a Gustav branch, another that had the glass fall out randomly)
Until recently, a very faulty alternator
Bad tires
So yes, the car is a large improvement. It's pretty nice...it has a CD player and a sun/moonroof and a backseat and air conditioning and it doesn't set off car alarms when I pull into parking lots (I wish I was exaggerating this fact about the truck).
I graduate this Friday and I cannot tell you how excited I am about this...but also sad and a bit nostalgic. In many ways, I really discovered who I was and wanted to be during my undergrad years; I dealt with some of the worst moments of my life in these past 5 years and I came out alive and whole and better for it. So it's kind of a big deal to leave those moments in the past so concretely (excuse my generalities, but I'm sure all of you understand the largeness of these kinds of emotions). Plans for the future are a bit uncertain...I'm applying to both LSU and Tulane for their Master of Liberal Arts programs and we'll see what happens. Best case scenario for me is that Ravi gets into Pharm.D school at Xavier in NOLA and I get into Tulane and we move to New Orleans. If it happens differently than that, then we'll make decisions then.
Right now, I'm sitting in my pajamas, listening to my Al Green station on Pandora (which just played me Mr. Green himself, Marvin Gaye, and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes...I love Motown), about to wrap some Christmas presents and write some cards. Ravi is on his way home with Chinese takeout and I might start a load of laundry. A nice night in. :)
P.S. If you want a Christmas card, email me your address at smashingsparkles@gmail.com! Elis and Adam, I have you guys addresses already so you don't need to email me! My Christmas cards this year make me smile.