| Current mood: |  good |
| Current music: | dave matthews - pig |
As she often does, Cathy came up with the idea of making one her grand feasts this past Sunday. She and Colin went out and bought a ton of stuff while Ryan and I drove out to McKnight Rd. to see Sloe at her new Target. It was a lot of fun; I was so happy to see him when I opened the front door. By the time we got home from Target, Cathy had everything ready and we sat down to eat. Awesome baked chicken, green beans and potatoes with angel food cake and fruit topping. I ate way too much, but it was all so good. Later on Ryan and I drove out to school to hang out for awhile. We had a great time.
This has been a week of midterms. I had my ethics test on Monday night, and I was positive that I wouldn't know what I was doing. But some stroke of luck I knew most of the multiple choice and my essays weren't too bad. After my test I talked to Katie on the phone, which is always great. Aerobics was cancelled on Tues so Jenn, Shannon, and I went to the gym instead. I got to embarass myself with my complete lack of weigh machine knowledge. Ryan came back that night to hang out again, which of course was lovely. I wish I could see him more often, but it's great when I do get to spend some time with him.
Weds are always interesting this semester because of senior sem. Maybe interesting isn't the best word - we sit and watch presentations for most of it. But I like it much more than a lecture for 2 and a half hours. And the activities people have come up with are really creative. I'll have to work on that part. My discussion wasn't too structured, oh well. My next one is on a couple poems by Anne Bradstreet, and I wouldn't describe her as exciting. Are Puritans ever that exciting?
Today I took my Medieval England midterm. It wasn't too bad, but there was just a massive amount of material to study. It gets a little confusing when there are 4 different Edwards, 2 Richards, 2 Johns, and 3 Charles to try to remember. But I think I got it down pretty well. The only major problem I had was having to rush to finish the last essay. It's hard to write a decent essay talking about the reign of Edward II and how it affected Ed III and Richard II while also considering how John I and Ed I had to handle things in 45 minutes. So the conclusion was throwing together some things Ed III did and what Richard II did. The end.
Dr. McDaniel mentioned a conference at Susquehana University sometime in February, and how we should send in research papers to be included in the conference. I can honestly say that in the past I would have never even given the idea a second thought, but today I decided to send in my abstract and see if they like it. Not like I've had some grand revelation or anything, but it's my last year of college, and what's the worst they can say? No? Well oh well then. And on the other hand, what if I go there and present my paper and someone comes up to me and says, "Hey, that was really good. I'll give you a large scholarship for graduate school or a really good writing job." Ha, that's a delusion of grandeur there. I don't think I'm even going to graduate school at this point, mostly because I have no idea what kind of career I would pursue with a masters. I've dreamt of going through a full phd program and becoming a professor, but I find myself discouraged and unconfident. Jerome always tells me how it's virtually impossible to get a decent teaching job in such a competitive market, but Dr. Mertens always seems to be talking about the various schools that want to hire him. But wouldn't it be great to discuss literature for the rest of my life? Wouldn't I love it? Or am I just too lazy and critical of myself to invest all the money and the time to do it?
I was telling Krystle and Shannon today how when I first looked at St. Vincent I was going to be a physics education major. Yes, you read correctly: me, doing PHYSICS. Thank God I realized how insane that was before I really applied. When I toured the science building I nearly had a nervous breakdown because I knew it wasn't for me. And then somehow I found what I love, English. I love to read, to write, to see what may or may not lie between the lines. And Cathy and other analytical minds may be frustrated by the lack of concrete answers, but it's beautiful all the same. And really English is everywhere - philosophers wrote down their theories, writing is the reason history lives on, literature tells readers secrets about life and psychology. Language is musical, it captures the scientist's findings. So when someone tells me that all I can do with my degree is teach highschool, I can smile and know that I can do more; all I have to do is try.
And even if I'm never wealthy and working at a crappy job to pay my bills, I'll remember what is carved into the stone above the entrance to the Carnegie Library:
FREE TO THE PEOPLE
Until next time.
The adventure continues...
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