Seventeen Days.

In Seventeen Days, I will be on break. Seventeen days until I officially have one semester of college remaining. Seventeen Days and I will have a month off from endless readings and papers to write. Seventeen days and I will be done with my English major classes.

I just returned home from Thanksgiving with my mother’s family in Illinois a few hours ago and have been attempting to start my senior paper. It is proving itself to be more difficult than I imagined. Tomorrow (well, later today, Saturday) I am hoping to have half of the minimum required page count for the draft completed. Five. I have my first sentence written, which can be the most difficult. As long as I adequately grasp an actual thesis, the actual point of the paper tomorrow I will be happy. I have an idea for how and where I plan to take the project, but there are some major blocks to sort through. I’m focusing on Pride and Prejudice and The Mill on the Floss by Jane Austen and George Eliot, respectively. Further, I plan to discuss the father in each novel and how their lives differ. We’ll see if anything comes of it.

I also need to locate 4 to 6 outside sources for my final paper for my Brit Lit class. I decided I will write about social responsibility in the novels Frankenstein and The Remains of the Day by Mary Shelley and Kazuo Ishiguro, respectively. But the other part of the assignment is to include 4 to 6 critical essays to comment on in regards to the chosen topic and novels. That one is due on December 10th and is an 8 page minimum.

The third rather large project I need to be working on is for my technical writing class. In theory I should be observing a non-profit organization in order to come up with a feasibility study for a possible solution to a problem the organization is facing. In practice, however, is a different story. I chose a homeless shelter and am going to study how a person can promote used winter coat donation to the shelter.

I have two more readings (I think) for my Nazi History class plus the final. Two more readings plus the novel White Teeth by Zadie Smith plus the final paper plus the actual final for Brit Lit. My senior paper draft, presentation and final draft for my Senior Seminar. And for technical writing I have the feasibility study plus gathering all the work I have done so far this semester, revising everything and putting it all together in a final portfolio.

It seems like a lot to accomplish in seventeen days. Because it is. I may not be the most dedicated and studious of students, but I try. In about 6 months I will be a college graduate looking for a real job in an extremely scary job market. It’s just another step in life I will face. Starting college itself was terrifying. The whole, employment thing might be worse, but I think that I will be ready come May. I’ve already come a long way with coming to terms with the impending graduation. At the beginning of the semester I didn’t want to even imagine graduating. Now? I hate homework more than anything and cannot wait to be finished with the silly requirements and hurdles to jump through in the academic arena.

The Passing of Time.

In just over a month the fall semester will be over. I could use the old cliche, “where did the time go?” but I am an English major and those tend to be “frowned upon.” (As is that one.) I am looking through my syllabi and am realizing how much and how little I have left to do. In my history class after I finish a paper for tomorrow I have two short readings left before the final. That’s all. It’s nice to know that I won’t have to worry about that class. The next reading is due after Thanksgiving, which gives me time to work on other things. I will be happy when December 15th arrives and I turn in my last assignment. The last day of finals is the 18th of December, but the last day of class is the 10th. For my senior paper, I turn in the final copy on the 11th. The history class’s final is the 13th, and for technical writing our final assignment is due on the last day that class meets which is the 9th. For Brit Lit, we may or may not have a take home final. It is scheduled for the 15th if our instructor decides to give an in class exam. If it is take-home my guess is that will be the last day it is due. It’s nice to know I can be home for winter break on the 16th this year. I’m not entirely sure what my plans will be, but it is coming up quickly. I’d like to go home that day because it looks like I will be re-hired to work for my dad one last time over break and would like to work as many days as possible to make extra money for next semester. Speaking of which, I register on Thursday. I decided what classes I will be taking. I was considering taking a wine class offered in the horticulture department, but unfortunately, the decision has been made for me whether or not I should take it. As of 3:30 this afternoon there were only 5 seats left. And today was the first day of registration. Instead I will take gospel choir again. It’ll be less work for me, so in a way it is beneficial. I am also taking two history classes–one on the holocaust and one on France, a communications course on reality television and a Russian Lit class on Dostoevsky. I think it’ll be an interesting final semester. I think I am ready to graduate. I am really hating on homework right now and cannot wait to go out and get a real job making real money. It’s frightening, but it has to happen sometime. And it’ll be here sooner than I think. I turn 22 years old on Saturday. When did that happen?

Democracy.

I voted in my first Presidential election this morning. It was one of the defining moments of my life and an incredible feeling. I paused a moment after I finished filling out my ballot completely to think about what was happening and I must admit I choked up. I was thirteen days too young to vote in 2004. I’ve been waiting for this moment for four years. The last two years especially. As I look back on the past two years, I imagine I knew who I would be voting for well over two years ago. Yes, the guy I was rooting for and voted for won tonight. I am in awe. No matter who you voted for, everyone should acknowledge what just occurred hours ago. All I ask is for everyone to give him a fair chance. You might be surprised. My roommates and I drove through a neighborhood near campus just after it was announced that Obama will be our next President. The people were spilling out into the streets. Cheering, yelling, honking, screaming, hugging, laughing, dancing…it was a beautiful sight to see.

Beaches.

The first time I saw the movie Beaches was last year with my best friend and roommate Doug. We made an actual dinner, shared a bottle of wine, and he told me I would need quite a few tissues. He was right. He also told me before it started that I should think about my other best friend in the entire world, LeAnn. Speaking of which, this summer I had a dream that she died and at her funeral they played the song from this movie, “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Doug was there too and started yelling at everyone for playing it. Today wasn’t the easiest of days, and I have been in need of a really good cry for awhile, so I pulled out his copy of the movie and curled up in my room to watch it alone. (He actually went back to our hometown for the weekend so he wasn’t here to watch it this time. I would have gone home too but my family is out of town and I would be alone anyway.) Needless to say, I will never watch Beaches alone again! It is awful! I started to cry at several points throughout the movie. The moment the two girls met on the beach? Check. The tears started falling once the song began playing and they wouldn’t quit until well after the credits rolled. I really needed to get all of the negativity I’ve been balling up out of my system and I do feel a lot better. The main reason I was upset is really silly actually and doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme of things. In fact, it is probably better for me, but the principle of the situation angered me the most. So to make myself feel better I watched Beaches, painted my fingernails black, and did some shopping online that I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. I really hate the act of shopping, but I’ve actually been needing some new things for a long time. So online it is! The thing about hating shopping is I put it off so long, when I do shop it isn’t indulgent or anything. Most of my clothes are from high school and are in dire need of replacing. But I digress. Beaches is a fantastic movie.