four years down, one final to go

It's incredibly strange to think that I am merely one final shy of the end of my academic career - at least for the foreseeable future. Although I admit that right now the "foreseeable future" only extends until about the 27th.

"How are you feeling?" everyone asks. "Are you excited to be finally done? What are your plans?" I usually reply with a smile and a shrug, which pretty much answers all three questions. How I'm feeling about it depends on the day. I'm torn between excitement at the prospect of a new and unknown future; sorrow at leaving a community that I love and am just starting to feel settled in; frustration at not being able to continue to study music here right as my interest and passion for it is building; and straight-up denial that any of this is really going on. On one level, it just doesn't make sense to me. Graduation? What does that mean? I'm supposed to know something now? For 17 years I have taken classes and soaked in information. Since before I can remember, my year has started in September and ended right around June. And now this shift out of academia is changing those familiar rhythms. I can't decide if I'm going to fall right in step with the new one or if it will take me awhile to adjust.

As for plans... well, I just don't know. I'm moving back to Anacortes for now. I'm working on a letter of intent for a ministry house that I'd like to open, to create a "home base" for the 20 to 30-year-olds in town. More on that later. I know that for the summer I will be working at the bookstore and hanging out with the youth group at church. Beyond that... who knows? But I truly am ok with those pages being blank.

For now, I have bigger bears to tackle: memorizing a semester's worth of various philosophers' ethical theories, internalizing seventeen centuries' worth of music history, and packing my life up so it can be moved 300 miles west. Onward!

Bloomsday!

For the uninformed, Bloomsday is an annual 12k (7.46 mi) race held in Spokane every year on the first Sunday in May. It's a pretty big deal in Spokane, and since I'm moving in 2 weeks I felt like it would be a good idea to participate this year. So, a few weeks ago, I called up my friend Michelle and said, "Hey, Michelle. Today's the last day to register for Bloomsday and I think we should enter." There was a short pause. "Uhhh... what? Okay... "

And we did. We ran/power walked (mostly power walked) all 12k and crossed the finish line victorious, having completed our first ever "big race."

We were pretty excited about it. I'm definitely looking forward to doing more of this type of thing in the future.