I suppose there was always a time in the back of my mind that I would indeed, eventually, graduate from college. A mere five and a half years worth of college, that felt much like my early childhood before I could drive, FOREVER.
It would also be mostly white noise to begin discussing all the responsibilities that are slowly drifting down and settling on my shoulders. Like stressful, ever present expensive snowflakes, I am afraid eventually I'll be completely buried by them. Goodbye carefree life of time to myself, at my discretion, of working when I wanted to and of watching tv for 16 hours three days in a row. Here, four days before graduation I have come into a new world known as Friggin Stressfulland. Full citizenship still pending (til I start my new job)
I did a class project at a veteran's home, just volunteering for a couple hours with an event they were hosting. Well, after driving up the winding and slightly ominous driveway, only to have no clue where to park, I decided solo volunteering was not my new favorite thing. After deciding that parking was better than driving around all night, I found a nearby entrance, from whence my journey began. I was shuffled from building to building, floor to floor, and spent quite a while standing awkwardly near nurses stations, sweating heavily in the 1000 degree atriums that frankly smelled quite farty. At one point and old guy rolled up to me in a wheelchair, head adorned with a jolly seasonal hat, and asked where I got my shoes. I cheerily replied, "China! I did an internship there". He harumphed loudly, and then called me a traitor. I laughed, thinking he'd join in on the fun...and then I realized his facial expression was that of one who wishes they could stand again, and perhaps karate chop the person nearest, who buys goods from a "commie country". Idk, either that or he needed a nap. I skeedadled as fast as my traitor shoes would allow me, away from anti-China, pro-Santa, Lester. I went downstairs again, tracked down a volunteer, and forced her to talk to me (ok I just followed her around and acted super meek until she felt sorry for me). Turns out, they didn't need my help, and I was free to go.
So volunteering is a great experience! You'll really get a sense of self worth while you're there, and learn things about yourself you never knew...like how patient you are with being sent on a wild goose chase, standing around in hot, smelly rooms, and being called unpatriotic for directly purchasing shoes that are supplied to the US anyway.
Next step, I hope I get to help an animal shelter, and get peed on or something. It'll really round out that "giving to give" feeling I've got going for me now.
No, I'm not writing this to avoid studying for the one final I have...I was really struck, uh with the need to write this evening...and I feel as if it is time to begin chronicling my new adventures in Grown-up land. I kinda want to treat the next couple years as an extended internship to this new country, so my posts should be fairly similar to my previous ones about China, minus coagulated pork blood and pantomiming a lot (well maybe I'll still pantomime)
In the next few weeks I will pack up, and move about ten hours away, to a place I won't mention by name, for professionality's sake. My new job starts in approximately 25 days. Plenty of time to get my life together, and be ready to enter the professional world. Also, lets keep the past experience of hiding in pantries and eating leftover cake as my main duties aside, and focus on the times I did professional stuff like...serve wine and tea. We can start off on the right foot, deal?
Interestingly enough, the night after I excitedly made a former coworker google "zombie cat syndrome" a coworker of my job now, began talking about how humans could possibly face a zombie apocalypse due to- and I jumped in with "toxoplasmosis". His amazed reaction was well worth the fact that I spent hours on the internet to glean bits o' knowledge, just to regurgitate them at critical points in time.
