Beginning of the End

My final semester at Drake is officially up and running. It got off to a rather slow start. We had MLK day with no classes and then that same Wednesday classes were cancelled because of bad weather... and I've had two other classes cancelled between now and then for other reasons...

Anyway, I have yet to have a full week of classes, but I've gone to all of them at least once so far, so that's a good start.

I'm taking it relatively easy this semester. 12 credits is all I need, so 12 credits is all I'm taking. Three English classes and American Musical Theater.

Granted, three English classes amounts to (literally) 16 books I have to read in 14 weeks and one of them is my capstone, which means I'll have one heck of a writing project to pull off by May, so we'll see how "easy" this semester actually is.

I'm optimistic, though. I like my professors a lot.

I have been reunited with Megan Brown, with whom I've taken two other classes. She's delightful and hilarious and brilliant and she's just a great person to have in class.

I also find myself in, not one, but two classes with Jeff Karnicky. I will graduate with five of his classes completed. He taught my FYS class so it seems fitting that I end things with him just as I started things with him. He's also a favorite of mine.

The odd part is that the aforementioned Brown and Karnicky are, in fact, married so I have all of these nightmares about them comparing notes on me and such. Talking about me at the dinner table.. that sort of thing. I'm being ridiculous, of course, but I can't say that doesn't cross my mind.

My last class is with Clive Elliott, whom I've never had before but is nevertheless LEGENDARY at Drake. He's an old British actor who tells amazing stories and has all this impressive professional experience. I think I'll like that class a lot.

So, here we have it. The beginning of the end, as it were.

Also, in 9 days will officially start the 100-day countdown until graduation. Calendar days, that is. And I think I'm going to do a blog every day to chronicle my last 100 as a college student. Maybe capture more accurately my bipolar state of mind.

Tales from the Job Front

I've known for a pretty long time that winter break of my senior year would be the time to start hitting the pavement, so to speak, in search of the rumored $30k + benefits.

So I have. It just so happens I'm hitting the internet more than the pavement, but that doesn't mean it isn't still hard work.

I've come to a conclusion about job hunting. I hate it. I hate it. I HATE IT. I hate EVERYTHING about it. I hate the anxiety and the frustration and deciphering vague job descriptions and writing cover letters and resumes and not having emails returned and the shameless self-promotion and not knowing where to look and not knowing if I'm going to end up with something horrible that will make me miserable for the next year and, worse, the possibility of not ending up with ANYTHING at all. I hate EVERYTHING about it.

It's horrible. It really, really is.

So maybe I'll just throw it out there that I'm smart, fast-learning, hard-working and outgoing. I'm a creative problem solver. I'm quick and I'm thorough. I can lead and follow and I find it easy to contribute to a team dynamic. I dread mundane routine and crave something fast-paced that will keep me on my toes. I'm happy and friendly and positive. I'm talented and funny and kind and I will confront issues that need to be confronted.

There. There's my self-promotion for the day.

A big problem I'm finding is that I'm hugely OVER qualified for some jobs. Is that a punishment for pursuing higher education? I don't know. But some people will seriously not consider college grads. It doesn't make sense to me.

Then, of course, there are the jobs that I'm hugely UNDER qualified for. Like the ones that require 7 years of professional experience in the field and 11 recommendations from employers and all that business.

So... that's a really unfortunate position to be in.

Project 365

This sounds suspiciously like one of those new year's resolutions I try so hard to avoid, but this year I decided to participate in project 365. Basically you take a picture of something every day.

It's pretty rad, I think. And I've made it to Jan. 9th without missing a day so I figure I'm doing better than most of those diets that are already out the window.

You can check it out on my Flickr photostream. I like the hits.

2010

Here we go with the obligatory new year post.

It is 2010 and I rang it in in my traditionally lame fashion. I sat and watched a movie or two by myself in the dark, which caused me to fall asleep for an hour. Luckily I woke up at like 11:50 and was able to watch my so-called "smart" clock roll over to midnight a good ten minutes after the new year started.

Woo. I was in pain the next morning after that outrageous party.

If you've read any of my other new year posts, you'll know that I'm not a resolution-maker by any means. I don't know if I can avoid it this year, though. I kind of have to resolve to do things like... graduate and get a job and an apartment and, like, have a real grown-up's life.

What exciting resolutions... I think. Well, ok. It is exciting, but don't think I didn't want to cry when I saw that clock roll over. 2010 is a real thing and it's weird.

It's kind of like states like Oklahoma or the Dakotas or something. You learn about them and everybody tells you they're there, but you don't really believe it until you see it for yourself.

That's what 2010 is like. It's like standing in Oklahoma... standing in Oklahoma and having no idea what to make of it.