Its Thanksgiving evening and I have yet to move from my chair. I'm stuck in Syracuse, NY this year. Too far to fly home and plenty of school work to keep me company. So I'm taking this time to reflect on this past year. I know you usually wait till New Years to do this kinda thing but I can't help think about how grateful I am to be where I am right now. I started graduate school on the 1st of July. It seemed surreal. I had packed up my things in Seattle thinking I would be back. But now it seems so long ago. I sold furniture and even gave things away so I could fit everything in my dad's SUV and then eventually dump my apartment goods in my brother's bedroom. He too has abandoned his belongings and started new in Sydney Australia. It's been a long time since I have seen him as well. He missed my college graduation and I barely saw him last Christmas. He'll be home soon for Xmas again. I only get two weeks at home for break. I'm taking a two week course in Washington D.C. so that I have a lighter Spring Semester load. This way I can concentrate on looking for jobs and such. It just seems so far from now, but actually I have already started looking. I kissed another summer away. Spent most of it in class and getting to know new friends. I luckily had a familiar face near by, my roommate from my undergrad years. But this really is a new feeling. I have made good friends, and lost some already to silly issues. Yes drama still exists out of high school. So I just disassociate myself from those people and concentrate on those that are worth it. Anyways I no longer walk across campus and see faces smiling back at me that I know. Now I feel like one in 20,000 students. And to make me feel even less welcomed, us grad students do our own thing. We study in our little study rooms. We go to different bars. Its a really weird jump for me. All of a sudden my friends are 25+ years old and I have to act my age. I turned 24 about ten days ago. I don't feel a day older than before. I think once I turned 21 I figured the next best age would be to turn 25. So now I wait. I look at photos on my friends facebooks and such and I see photos from all over the world. I am envious of those who have set jobs although I know when it comes time I still would rather be in academia forever. PhD anyone? No way, I have to stop racking up debt. Plus I want to get out there and do something amazing. But where does that take me? I always head back to Washington D.C. Now I've been thinking of NYC because of a couple visits I have had since moving to upstate NY. But I don't know if I will ever really feel like home, or even close to how I felt in Seattle. I felt comfortable there. I still was in the same time zone as my friends in CA, and I could drive home to see the 'rents when needed. But overall I was independent and happy. Now why did I choose to go back to school again? Well I think it wasn't that I wanted to take more tests and stress about hw. I told myself I needed to, to get where I wanted to go. There are days I am not so sure....like today no being able to fly home for turkey day. But then there are days I'm so happy to be where I am. I guess it just depends. But now that I am in too deep, there is no turning back. I just got to get to July 1st 2008. I'll have another graduation cap on my head (or actually I won't cause we were professional dress for our ceremony) and another certificate to hand to my parents. They'll be satisfied I think. It may not be a law degree or a MBA, but they can keep telling their friends their third child, their youngest daughter accomplished something that most people don't. I'm just glad I stood my ground and chose a focus I really wanted. Hell if I have to sit in classes again. it might as well be interesting. Besides this statistics hw sitting in front of me, I like my classes. Ok enough blabbering. Happy Thanksgiving. Time to go change and eat some turkey at a friends house. | 
