Well, ladies and gentlemen, my first year as a graduate student has officially come to a close. I took my last final this morning and submitted my last paper this evening. I am so very glad to be finished and feel no closer to deciding what to do with my life than I did in August. Rather, I feel as though I only continually eliminate potential career options. How long can this process of elimination last?!
I have had wonderful professors and been able to cultivate relationships with a professor in each area of history in which I have some slight interest. I feel as though they all have complete confidence in me, which is precisely what I need, for so often I feel as if I am in over my head, struggling to stay afloat amid all the confusion and uncertainty that accompanies an academic life. Not only that, but the differences between my undergraduate and graduate experiences are so stark that sometimes I wonder how they can both be called "school." This year has tested me in so many areas of life, most of which I am finally realizing and being forced to confront. However, I feel as though the end of this academic year marks a new beginning. Each semester is a fresh start, especially those separated by an entire summer. I have a month until I have to start my Latin classes in June, and I intend on spending this month focusing on the personal aspects of this past year that have been perpetually pushed to the back shelf in deference to academic concerns.
This is the first summer that I will not be living at home, working for CDB. I will be staying here in Nashville, working in the Vanderbilt Bookstore and taking Latin classes each morning from 7:45 to 10. I am going to Memphis this upcoming weekend, Loribeth's wedding in Lexington, NC, at the end of May, followed by Deborah's graduation in Colorado Springs, a trip to Louisville for Whitney's wedding in July, and hopefully a trip to NYC in August between summer and fall semesters. That pretty much sums up the majority of my summer plans, though if life continues to surprise me as it has, there are bound to be some disturbances to that well-planned schedule.
Anyways, if any of you need a trip to Music City, I will be here all summer and would love to see you!
xoxo
