Look Who’s Professionally Blogging Now, Baby!

So true... I'm still getting paid to do it (not here, this one is just for my own geekiness). Image from http://hiramenlared.com.

I received my first paycheck from work today. Which means two things: 1) I can buy groceries and 2) I am officially being paid to blog. Okay, so I’m not being paid great to blog, but nonetheless, I’m taking this one as a win.  But this also means I’m a huge nerd. Not even a minor nerd. I’m a supernerd who is now in charge of two blogs. Best part? I’ve had a cold for two weeks, which means I’ve been sniffling and sneezing all week and I wear glasses and I write two blogs. Nerdiness is literally oozing out of my pores.

 So this job isn’t exactly what I imagined I’d be doing after college (I wanted to do PR/event planning for non-profit organizations; I’m blogging for a company that is so unbelievably for-profit that they have a big screen TV with the daily sales rankings at the front of the office), but given the state of things and the fact that I actually enjoy working on the blog, I have no complaints (well, okay, I have plenty of complaints, but I’m going to ignore them for now). And technically I am working events at my second job, I’m not so much planning them as moving tables around, but it is a non-profit and I enjoy it, so it’s a win.

And even though I just completed my 105th hour of work without a day off (12 days in a row, 2 double shifts, and I still managed to finish 2 books, only further showing how boring my life is), I’m no where near as exhausted I was in school, when I had class for a few hours a day, four days a week. Go figure.

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Getting Raunchy At Junior Prom

"Dirty Dancing".... still way cleaner than what I saw the other night. Photo from http://www.espritlibre.ws.

The other night I had the pleasure of working at a high school junior prom. Overall, I’ll admit that the kids were polite, the chaperones were friendly, and the food was free… but there was one thing I took issue to, and maybe I’m just too old for this, but  it’s one thing to grind, it’s another thing to practically dry hump on the dance floor in front of your teachers, principal, and a few unsuspecting strangers who happen to be working the event.

Whatever, I get it, they’re young kids having fun. I don’t have any doubts about what 16 -year-olds do while they’re alone. At that age, you are meant to push the limits, to see how much damage you can do before the consequences set in. My issue wasn’t with them. They did what teenagers do. My issue is with the chaperones who didn’t say anything. One teacher even joined in. Legit, he joined in a grind train while his colleagues laughed… And when one young man took off his shirt and started chasing an obviously uncomfortable young teacher around, no one said anything… this is until the event coordinator who I work for told him to stop and put his clothes back on.  A room full of chaperones, not a peep from any of them.

When did this all happen? My dad tells me stories of going to a Catholic  high school where a nun would come around and insist couple who were dancing too close “make room for the Holy Ghost.” What kids do at parties is what it is. But this was a school sponsored event. When did adults become so intimidated by teenagers that they can’t even tell a 16-year-old boy to put his clothes back on or tell  a 16-year-old girl to take her hands off her ankles and stop working that thing. One young man (the shirtless boy I believe) even got down on his knees while a young lady came up behind him and, well, you get the visual.

The highlight of my night though was when one very awkward, although seemingly sweet, young man asked a girl to dance. And then they dance old school to a slow song. Her hand in his, her other hand gently placed on his should, while his rested timidly on her waist. Amongst the dirty dancing, here was one the one shred of innocence we’d been looking for. I looked to the couple and then to my co-worker, and he agreed- that is the way it should be.

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The Rundown

I am now one of 27% of Americans with a college degree... boo ya

Sorry I haven’t posted in a bit… Things have been crazy.
Here’s the update:

• I got my $160,000 diploma… it’s in an envelope in my closet
• I went from an easy 4 day school week to a 7 day work week (I’ll be putting in 61 hours this week..)
• I have a narsty head cold (and yes, the added ‘R’ was necessary)
• I missed Magna cum Laude by 1/100th of a percent… that’s karma (but it wasn’t because of BP, which makes me feel eons better)
• I moved into a new house
• I’m allergic to my new house
• My new house has ants
• I’ve eaten nothing by cereal, soup, and cheesecake since Sunday (it’s now Thursday…)
• Today’s Eileen’s birthday
• Life’s pretty darn good.

That pretty much all I got for now.

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Stirring Up Sugar Honey Iced Tea When We Party All Night

Roomie Totem Pole Before Commencement Ball

Last night, the university held its 60th Annual Commencement Ball (that’s how we roll down here; we don’t have dances or formals, we have a freakin’ ball). My roomies and I got all glammed up; our parents took the part of paparazzi; and we headed out the door for our last big hoorah.

My roommates were on dress watch as my double-sided sticky tape gave way to gravity. As we passed the dinner rolls around, SLJ and I commented on how ever bite of dinner forced a battle between our tummies and our dresses in which there could be no good winner. We took photos of ourselves, in that token Facebook style (you know what I’m talking about…)

And then of all the pathetic things, I almost started to cry. Not because it’s getting to the end and I’m not ready to leave or because my dress was crushing my rib cage. No, I almost started crying because one of my Business Policy group members informed me that after the quiz results, only three group members were getting As and I wasn’t one of them (remember this project as “Evil Lurks in Room 113“). This wouldn’t matter any other time,  but I needed that A to graduate Magna Cum Laude… And with BP being a 4 credit class, that A- would knock me just enough to miss the blue ribbon. And while I sat there feeling extremely sorry for myself, of all the terrible things, something from my Capstone class came to mind… “Nothing is worth everything.”

So I got my sorry butt up, readjusted my dress, and tore up the dance floor with a few of my favorite people and a lot of people I don’t think I’ve ever seen before… And as I gear up to graduate, I think the memories of spastastically dancing with my friends will mean more than some silly honor chord.

P.S. I realize “spastastically” is not an actual word. It’s like one of those Scrabble words you put out hoping no one will call you on it. It’s a smash-up of spastic and fantastically… I know that after 4 years of college I should be  able to come up with a real word, but alas my week of not having classes or work has rendered my brain mush.

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For The Christmas Elf, The Obsessed Hanson Fan, and The Awkward Girl in the Panda Sweatsuit

The roomies when we were still 100 days from graduating....

This morning at 8:30 a.m., I handed in my final undergraduate paper. In 10 days, I’ll get my $160,000 diploma. As a first semester freshman, this moment felt light-years away, and now that it’s here I am struck by how quickly the time went by.

Here is what I’ll miss most:

10. Going to Cold Stone every other week with my roommates.

9. Staying up late talking about nothing all that important with my roommates.

8. Fighting over who has to take out the garbage with my roommates.

7. Finding notes on my whiteboard from my roommates .

6. Ninja training with my roommates.

5. Trying to take a nap only to get pig-piled on by my roommates.

4. Taking delightfully awkward photos for Facebook with my roommates. 

3. Walking to the on-campus convenience store to buy overpriced candy with my pajama-clad roommates .

2.  Making fun of my roommates with my roommates.

1. Being roommates with my best friends.

Alright, that’s about as deep as I get.

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Don’t Stress. Relax.

College student play time!!! $40,000 of tuition not wasted...

 

Every semester, on the first night of finals week,  an on-campus organization called VIRGO (Volunteers Interested in Reaching Out and Guiding Others) hosts an event known as Stressbuster. Apparently, they’ve decided the best way to reach out and guide us is by giving us a ridiculous amount of free* food (the cost of entrance is $1 or a canned good) and letting us play with foam shapes and fabric glue. And it’s freaking epic. Literally, there is a mob at the door trying to get in because what better way could your time be spent  than taking two hours before a major exam to color and eat pizza?

I’m not sure if every school has implemented some form of event like this, but they should. It’s a reminder that we need to relax and enjoy a few breaks while cramming in all that knowledge we were supposed to have accumulated over the past semester. It reminds you that even though you’re an adult, you’re still a kid. So my recommendation? Put down the textbook for a minute and pull out the coloring book, sit back, and remember that in the long-run, it’s just a grade.

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