Graduation!

So last week, I graduated from college!  That’s right: college is OVER!  No more papers, no more homework, no more tests or quizzes or theses or final projects…at least until I decide I miss it all and go back to grad school.

It was a big week, not only because of the ceremonies, but because of all the family that came down for the event.  It was great to see all my sisters, baby Jane, a bunch of my cousins who came down for our Italian barbeque (salad, lasagna, and garlic bread on the porch), and everyone else who came.

The ceremonies were interesting too.  Elder Christofferson gave the commencement speech, and I was very pleased that he referenced Hugh Nibley.  Man, if Nibley were still alive (or maybe if he could come back from the dead), it would be absolutely awesome if he could give the commencement address, but Elder Christofferson was pretty good too.

The convocation Friday was very long, but fortunately I snuck a novel in: Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin.  Made some decent headway in it, too.  There was a very interesting talk, though.  One of the retiring faculty told a story from when she was a student in a wilderness class.

As they were making their way down a river canyon and came to the end of the bank, she thought to herself “it will be alright if I can just keep my boots dry.” As the water became deeper, that changed to “it will be alright if I can keep my pack dry.” Eventually, however, they had to swim, and everything got wet.  Still, they made a fire, dried everything out, and had a good time.

The story was meant to illustrate that life in the real world is like that.  When you start out, you worry about a lot of things, but when you look back after many years have passed, those small setbacks don’t seem like anything to worry too much about.

Well, that’s where I am right now: unemployed, looking for a plan for the next five years.  My plan A is still to break into publishing, but I’m going to need a secondary career or day job to  get by in the short to medium term.  I have no idea what that entails,  but at least I’m graduating debt free, with money in the bank.  That helps.

Two years ago, I was terrified of graduating and setting out into the “real world.” A year ago, I realized I had grown out of college life and needed to move on.  Now, I have no idea what I’m doing, but life is an adventure and I’m confident things will work out for the best.