Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Graduation, packing, and the two-week itch

Graduation went off without a hitch. Very possibly the most nerve-wracking day of my very short life, but pretty enjoyable. I was student commencement speaker and only had one tiny mistake in my speech. I deny people's praise and commendations, but honestly, I am very proud of my speech. I didn't realize it until I was on the platform looking out over a practically packed Sovereign Center, but I very quickly discovered that this was a special honor and I had every right to be proud of myself. I wish now that I could remember more than the fear and the nervousness I felt that day. Most of my speech in my memory is a haze of words. I suppose I would get very prideful if I could remember any more than the nerves.

Almost as soon as the diploma holder was in my hand (since, among other reasons, my grades STILL weren't in by graduation or even a week after graduation...), I found myself packing up my belongings. Packing up? Going where? Gettysburg. I got a year long internship at the college library. I got the phone call that said, "We want YOU!" Sometime between the funeral, Easter, and final papers coming due. I've had very little time to be super excited about this, but I promise I am. What's really been hard is the two weeks.Two weeks, almost to the day after graduation, I will be moved into my apartment. Does that seem fast to anyone else?!?! Whenever I have big changes or moves in life (remember London?), I have this two week crisis. I decide that I don't need to change, move, or otherwise disrupt my comfortable life to do something new and adventurous. I didn't have that this time, perhaps for the good.

However, I've had days where I wake up late and have zero motivation to pack. Absolutely none. Those days I hate. But I'm running out of those days, and even good packing days. Tomorrow is my last day. My last day to get all the important things, clothes, books and such into a box. And it's hard to do to that. For 22 years, I've never had to move anything. I still have notes from high school packed away somewhere, stuffed animals I don't miss, and playbills from my shows and friend's shows. Now, in two weeks, it is getting packed up.

New experiences are not all bad, of course. In fact C. S. Lewis thought that all experiences were valuable. He said of a temporary post in the philosophy department at Trinity College:
"It's poorly paid and temporary...but it better to be inside than out, and it is always a beginning. The experience should be valuable."
So tomorrow, I'll pack more boxes, prepare myself for the next adventure in my life. And, if nothing else, the experience will be valuable...

1 comment:

Nature's Architect said...

if you want to come visit, we are not too far from Gettysburg - about 50 miles.
Jess