The Graduate

Oh my, so much has happened in the last few weeks…where to begin?

I spent the first two weeks of May hibernating in the apartment in various stages of writing, researching, crying, hair-pulling, power-pointing, stressing, procrastinating, printing, proofreading, crying some more, annoying Rusel about all of the above, sitting in the windowsill staring at people outside on the street who didn’t have to do any of the above, and finally finishing my three final papers and one huge presentation to finish grad school. Without my trusty library partner, Liz, it was even more of a challenge to finish everything up. 

And then, it was over. I slipped my final final paper under my fave professor's door (Barry Salmon, you're the best) on Wednesday, May 14^th and then my Mom and her friend Raynelda arrived into the city on Thursday, May 15^th. They had spent a few days up in Connecticut with the lovely and quite special family friends the Wankera’s, who then drove them down to their hotel in Brooklyn near my house.

On Thursday, there was a special ceremony for my department (Graduate Program International Affairs), the media department, and the writing department at the New School. It was at a gorgeous, huge church on Fifth Avenue. It felt good to have Rusel and my Mom and her friend there. They called out my name and I got my “diploma” (not the real deal until the final grades are in) and it felt good to shake hands with various faculty standing up in the front, ready to congratulate us. I sat by my good friend, Jim, who was my partner on my practicum project.

The next day was the graduation ceremony. It was great, and I had to wipe a tear away as I walked into the huge auditorium at Madison Square Gardens in my cap and gown. At times, I can’t believe I actually did it – I now have my Master’s! It feels so good and like such an accomplishment and having my Mom and Rusel – two of my favorite people in the world and my biggest cheerleaders through the whole three years – there to cheer me on one final time.

One thing that I kind of forgot about because I deal with it every day and live in New York City is just how liberal the New School is. It is the liberalist of the liberal, and many of the speakers said some harsh things about the Bush administration and America in general. It didn’t bother me at all – because I am so liberal – but I think that both Raynelda (my Mom’s friend from Nebraska who came with her) as well as my Mom both did a slight double-take at the cheers when it was mentioned that the Bush administration was almost over (yeah!) and some slightly anti-American statements were made (no cheering, but general head-nodding amongst students). In a way, I was so proud to be a part of the students there who definitely have some pretty leftist ideas about Bush in particular; having said that, I didn’t really want my Mom and her friend to be uncomfortable.

Soon, we were leaving Madison Square Gardens for home (with some contraband balloons that my Mom stole from the reception area in tow) and we were greeted by a rainy, dreary Manhattan.  Yucky, icky rain and of course, no available cabs in sight. We decided to brave the NYC subway system and it was fun to hear all of the congratulations and well-wishes from perfect strangers (I still had on my cap and gown). Two subways and a cab ride later, we were home in Greenpoint. I was worried that none of my friends would show up for our big party that night, but my worries were totally unwarranted and a great time was had by all. My Mom brought a "party in a suitcase" which was -- literally -- a party in a suitcase. Yummy Nebraska/Mid-west specialties were unpacked, one by one, and promptly consumed by me and my friends. It was so much fun. 

The rest of the weekend was spent with my Mom and Raynelda, seeing the sights of NYC. They left on Sunday, and on Tuesday I flew out to Denver to spend about ten days with my fabulous and amazing sister, Paige. The schedule was pretty jam-packed: eating the delicious cupcakes at my cousin Sara’s cupcake bakery, Happy Cakes, hanging with my sister Paige’s friend Sara and her husband and their kids, hanging with some high school friends, having lunch with Rusel's sister and her beautiful baby Denia at Rusel's favorite Denver Mexican joint, Benny's, and then going up to Boulder to hang with Meyung, who is studying at the Naropa Institute there. Then, Meyung, Paige and I drove up to my parent’s timeshare in Vail and spent Memorial Day weekend there. It was great….although I missed Rusel, it was nice to be in the outside rather than holed up in Greenpoint….and you know what they say about absence and the heart and something about fondness?

After a week in Vail (I know, how lucky am I?) playing croquet, sipping sangria, watching great movies (This Is Spinal Tap (Shit Sandwich!), The Godfather II (how could Michael do that to his own brother?) and Across the Universe (Julie Taymor, I absolutely heart you)), and consuming my first post-graduate school strictly-for-pleasure book (Tales of a Female Nomad -- loves loves loves it! Thanks for the great lend, Meyung!) we are back in Denver tonight and I fly out tomorrow. Spending time with Paige was just what I needed and it was great to chill with her in the mountains. It was also really nice to not have e-mail for a week but it’s nice to be connected again, as well. And I was able to check my final grades online…and that’s right – straight A’s! It feels great to end on such a high note and I’m especially happy to have earned such great grades in light of the fact that I took some pretty tough courses and was working half the semester as well.

I’m flying back to NYC tomorrow and then Rusel and I are away for a few days to our fave place (okay, one of our fave places!), Hudson, NY. Then it’s back to NYC to find myself a job!

Any ideas? 

Comments

[Roger]

Congrats again! I love all the pics of your mom and the balloons. The pic of you and I is one of my faves ever! :)

[John]

Just surfed onto your post, and coincidentally I have a blog about Hudson, New York... http://www.THE12534.com

[Monika]

CONGRATS! I heard about the hang out with fellow high schoolers...wish I could have been there. I'm sure you will find a great job - who wouldn't want a girl from Nebraska who has traveled the world working for them?!?!?! Go get em!