First month of post-grad life

My first month as a William and Mary graduate has been very busy and exciting! I say first month because I’m excluding “winter break.”

My first week of being a William and Mary graduate, I decided that I should get a job. So, I applied for two jobs, and to my surprise, both of them said, “Okay!” I’ve been working nearly full time as a receptionist at my optometrist’s office (I asked for the job while getting my eyes checked) and just a few hours a week at a tutoring club teaching chemistry and math. It’s nice because both are in my neighborhood and the hours are flexible. The people I work with are lovely and fun! It’s very different from going to school. It’s nice not having to do homework or study for exams, and when my friends talk about papers they have to write, it already seems foreign to me. On the other hand, school is more exciting. I miss learning things. It’s great that I sort of have time to read books that interest me, but then again I sort of don’t have enough time to just sit quietly and read an entire book, like I did at school.

I can’t wait for more school though. I am glad I’m taking this semester off to work so I can avoid being burnt out by school work and also appreciate school. I’ve gotten into one of my top choices for graduate study–UNC Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. I am visiting this weekend. Yes, during Super Bowl weekend. That’s how excited I am to see this school.

During nights and weekends, I have been training for the Monument Avenue 10K with a team, which has been really great! I’m not much of a runner at all, and I used to whine every time I ran, but I am breaking out of that, and it’s going really well. I’m working at being good at running because I feel like it’s one of the few things I’m not good at and it’s useful, like if I’m being chased by a bear or a person with blow darts. Also, I want lungs of iron. Especially since my office is right next to a cigar shop! Let’s try to avoid lung cancer please.

I also went to a public health fair. I visited a Buddhist temple. I spent time with William and Mary friends, and it still feels like I’m a student there when I visit. I made new friends! I’m going to dinner and then an art walk downtown with new friends tomorrow after work. Life post-grad is pretty swell! Aren’t y’all excited to graduate now? It’s not as scary as it sounds. All you have to do is be curious, explore, reach out to new people and new places, and go for what you want!

I will leave you with two things. The first is my upperclass Monroe Project, a 10 minute film on Blayton Elementary’s Bumblebee Garden: http://vimeo.com/35779104

The second is a picture of  this awesome piece of paper someone gave me. It’s written in some weird made-up language, so who knows what it says, but doesn’t it look impressive? (Just kidding, it’s in Latin, which is almost a real language). Happy Charter Day!