Home, home on the range

So, now that I have been a real person for 2 days, I see that nothing in my life has changed. I still find alcohol very enticing, my highest aims are to one more time swim in the fountain post-2 a.m. when I return to campus and I don't see anything more important in my life than my friends. I haven't matured at all since receiving my (fake) diploma and I'm really quite happy about that.

After reading what everyone else has written to this, I have several thoughts and questions.

1. Who is Mia? Apparently we were at the same graduation for Comm, and I don't know her..?

2. Fruit Rupes, you double majored in Commercial Spanish and whateverelseyoumajored in? No sabia esto antes! Es una lastima que nunca hemos charlado en espanol cuando hemos estamos borrachos. ay!

3. I didn't know we were allowed to use profane language in this blog. Profane language is my favorite.

Right now I'm at home in New Jersey. I came home to hang with my family and get some important things done like looking for new glasses frames, shoe shopping, a haircut, visiting my grandparents and hopefully booking a flight to China. We'll see how all of that goes. I think I'm going to go back to College Park on Thursday, assuming home will have driven me up a wall by then anyway.

FOMO hasn't kicked in yet, fortunately. I don't want to think about the fact that I missed Big Ass Drafts at Cstone tonight (normally one of my favorite nights of the week, besides the Thurs/Fri/Sat trifecta). Instead, I had graduation dinner with my family and apparently have failed at seeing any of my home friends because my home friends and I are all lazy bums and driving cars to see each other takes too much energy.

Thank the lord for NYC, where I'm going tomorrow. I consider myself among the luckiest of human beings who are blessed to live in the suburbs surrounding the greatest city in the world. I'm going to hop on a bus and go there. It's going to be easy and I sure as hell am not going to take it for granted because frankly, New York kicks Washington, D.C.'s ASS (I have confirmed this after 4 years of metro-ing there. It's a proven fact).

--Becca

Dearest Dearests

So Chris Frank just left. An emotional moment to say the least. Love you C-Frank-explains-it-all.

Anyway, first and foremost I want to congratulate everyone on this blog on a job very well done. We've made it my friends, now we must go where no man has ever gone before, that is, we must go out and live what we were born to do. I hope everyone does great things.

I'm watching the Lost finale right now and honestly this show fucking sucks. Its a bunch of unbelievable, convenient, unrelated phenomenon summing to one really shitty drama. Unnecessary aside.

Onto some of my quotes from today, recorded gracias a Gyles K. Daniel.

"I was so depressed all yesterday and today. College is over, life just goes downhill after college."

"I wish I had done 5 years."

"The Handsome Men's Club will never die."

But we mustn't dwell on the past, we did what we could, we lived it up while we were young, and fuck y'all I'm still gonna live it up. Jenna tried to tell me last night that partying and smashing aren't all there is to life. I disagree whole-heartedly. The one thing I learned in Spain, legitimately, is that there is more to life than working all day. Actually, those were the closing lines from the professor during la ultima clase de historia medieval.

But enough life lessons, I'm only 22, what do I even know?

Kyle says I'm supposed to write about myself so here is me: My name is Eric, in case you haven't figured out who this is yet, I was born in Lancaster Pennsylvania, one of the cutest, most adorable towns ever (not biased at all, I swear), and I hope to return there some day. It embodies who I am very well: clean, a little old-fashioned, a lot of German-Americans, pretty much 50-50 in terms of political ideology, people there love good beer and cars. I don't think I've changed too much since High School, except for having much shorter hair and a few more notches on my belt. My favorite thing to do in the entire world is to go to the gym, it has been for a long time, and it's a time-consuming hobby. During the past 4 years there is not a doubt in my mind that I spent more time in Ritchie and the ERC than studying. I just finished up a B.A. in Commercial Spanish and a B.S. in Physiology & Neurobiology. I don't think I learned a single new thing about the Spanish language in all of college, just refined my skillz, but definitely learned a good bit about biology. Spanish classes (shout out to Resrie) were 438103743x better though.

Next year I'll be at GWU, studying medicine, ballin out, fucking bitches, takin out loans in place of making money. Props to Obama for shortening how long I'll have to pay back my student loans, and on lowering the percentage of my salary I'll have to dedicate to paying them back. But first I gotta make it through this summer. I strongly suspect it will be a dull one, filled with lots of early nights and beers on this couch I'm sitting on right now (drinking a beer ironically).

That's all for now.

Eric

PS - Do hard things!

One amazing day after the other

YESTERDAY I GRADUATED FROM
COLLEGE

and it feels
OH SO GOOD.

My ceremony was at 2:30 in Ritchie Collesium. One of my older sisters, Mercy, flew in from Oklahoma. She was there along with my parents and my wonderful little brother, Nathan. They were soooo supportive, and I was ecstatic to have them there for such a monumental occasion. I ran into some friends from my major (Communication), and a few of my professors- one of which I have done a lot of research and side-work for. She has really been a great influence on me and I have such respect for her.
These past two months have been reallyyyyyyyy intense for my family- a rollercoaster of emotion every. single. day. Without going into the entire schpeal, my little brother got a horrendous infection in his tonsils, throat, and chest cavity which nearly took his life. He was in the ICU of the Shock Trauma unit for 6-7 weeks, easily the "sickest person in the hospital" for a while, according to several of his nurses. He had something extremely rare, and EXTREMELY dangerous. In short- he was literally on the verge of death; an unbelievably difficult thing to wrap your head around. He is my best friend, brother, other half... I've grown up and shared everything with him for my entire life... so the thought of him just suddenly not being there, ever again was just beyond my comprehension. And thanks to the amazing staff at UMMC, I will (hopefully) never have to face those terrifying thoughts again. He is alive and well... moving, eating, talking, living, laughing, cracking sarcastic, smart-ass comments which I never thought I would love so much... I feel so blessed. So you can imagine my graduation + the presence of my brother was just overwhelmingly happy for me yesterday.

Then today was my graduation party shin-dig! I have a pretty huge family (my dad is one of TEN kids... so, yeah)... many of them live on the west coast but timed their visits to the east coast to overlap with my party! My sister and I woke up at 10:30 for our 11 am nail apt. with my mom- ballerrrr timing on our part, especially since we had no alarm set haha. It was such a nice treat, especially for Mercy who lives in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma, and doesn't get these things done... ever. She felt like such a rockstar she said, ahaha.
We ran around and did a couple errands, and then headed over to my party! SO MANY OF MY RELATIVES WERE THERE! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I was so beyond happy, I was beside myself with LOVE! hhaaha I don't mean to go all mushy on here but I don't know how else to express it.... so many people I love, all in one place, just happy for me and my brother and our family. Everything felt okay. I had people asking what my plans were, but it was all without pressure. It was just in genuine interest in my future and in me, which is infinitely better than the nosy, intrusive and pushy "Whaddya wanna do!?"
I wish people would never ask this question. I feel like saying "Well I think I'll go home... take a nap... maybe get something to eat... watch Law and Order later..." hahaha. Really... am I supposed to have my life figured out right now!? Gimme a break, society. I've been going through the rythms of public education for SIXTEEN YEARS... haven't I earned a couple months to just relax?! I declare I have. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm not going to become a lazy fuck who mooches off their parents until they're 40, but I am taking this summer to chillllll. And just appreciate all that life has given me, and blessed me with. Because really, I am SO lucky. No debt. A brother/best friend who has been given life again, and in turn has renewed my life. I am in love with his nurses- who ALSO came to my party today. Brought me to tears. They saved his life, and now they are amazingly close family friends. I have parents and a family who LOVESSSSS ME. And really... what more can I ask for than to be surrounded by the people who love and care about me more than anyone?!?
yeah, I can't think of anything either.
Life feels oh so fucking good, and I am thankful beyond words for everything and everyone.

Toodles!!!!!
<3 , Mia

This Week Killed 24.6% of my Liver

Yesterday I graduated from college. Fin.

Kidding. My name is Leslie Keegan, and I just graduated from UMD with a BA in Spanish. I was also Pre-Physical Therapy, which gives you nothing... as in if you were to look at my transcript without knowing that I plan to continue on to graduate school, chances are you'd be confused. And probably judge me a little.

Yesterday was an interesting day to say the least. I learned that it is possible for a ceremony graduating 80 people can last 2.5 hours, I learned that a certain Japanese major likes horses and wants to die looking at clouds, and (most importantly) I learned that I am secretly a giant bitch who has no trouble publicly denying the hug of her department head. Celebrations were in order for all that learning, and I couldn't have asked for better friends and family with whom to par-tay. PS- got the entire Hoopla game filmed.

As for the future, I am continuing my job as a physical therapist aide in a sports medicine clinic in Silver Spring (aaahh... THAT'S why she majored in Spanish) during the month of June before traveling through Europe with my younger brother James. After that, more of the same but in a clinic in Bethesda and/or Germantown for about 2 years until I go back to school. Then you may all call me Dr. Leslie. Or Dr. Awesome. Whichever feels more natural. I'm excited to see what life throws my way, and to read about the exploits of my friends. I love you all.

Yesterday I graduated from college. Still in denial.

-Leslie

Turns out you really CAN do it!

Yesterday, I graduated from college much like many of my relatives did before me. You see, I'm no first generation terp. In fact, in many ways I was born to be a terp. I am the daughter of two terps, the grandaughter of two terps and even the great grand daughter of a terp. Both my sisters were terps and I have so many aunts, uncles and cousins that were terps it's fair to say anything I did in college AT LEAST someone else in my family had done before me. With that being said, there is no place I would have rather graduated from and no other mascot's nose I would have wanted to rub for luck.

I used to think my parents were lying when they told me I could do anything I put my mind to, but at this moment in my life I have a very hard time disagreeing. I got into my dream graduate school, just signed a lease for a great apartment in a city I love, and to put the cherry on top am traveling around Europe this summer with one of my best friends. Indeed, my life is good. I have no reason to believe I deserve any of this, but I do think that four years of hard work and some serious To Do lists certainly didn't hurt.

My name is Kristen and I graduated yesterday with a double degree in International Business and Finance and a minor in Spanish. In the next few months, I'll be telling you about my adventures around Europe, moving to New York City and all about getting my Master's in Public Adminstration, Public & Non-profit Management from New York University (NYU). Fingers crossed this degree will teach me more about how microfinance can be used in Africa to help people suffering from diseases of poverty. I look forward to blogging more soon.

Best,
Kristen

hail, not-entirely-nourishing mother.

Yesterday I graduated, which is not to say I'm any wiser for the experience. Any sagacity I've managed to accrue these past four years has been the result of a series of tiny steps. College has been, well, graduated- any change happened slowly, not overnight. So for me, graduation is just a walk across a stage. No big change, no great realization.

I'm pretty sure my life after Maryland is going to be the same way. I have a BS in Computer Science, so I'll be heading to Northern Virginia midsummer to start working. I'll learn new software, new systems, and new coworkers, and I'll grow- slowly. I might have a few bills to rub together, too, which should prove interesting and possibly act as a catalyst for a bit more change. I don't think that sort of thing will go to my head, though, since I'm way too used to being broke in one way or another.

I'm still the same Kevin- I still want to write and think and have fun. Only now I'm a Kevin with a piece of paper that says I'm smart and know stuff. I guess after Maryland we'll see what it is I actually do know.

Kevin

Yesterday I Graduated from College

Yesterday I graduated from college.

I got a B.A. in Communication from the University of Maryland, with a minor in Spanish Languages & Cultures and a minor in Chinese Language. What now?

Graduating was kind of anticlimactic. I got a fake diploma that was a piece of nice paper with a turtle on it. Big whoop.

I thought the last night of college as we know it would be like "WHOAAAAAA WE'RE REAL PEOPLE!!!!" but instead it just involved waiting on the same dumb lines for overcrowded College Park bars, not getting in and resorting to my favorite place on campus, the fountain. No regrets. I love the fountain and I loved watching the drunk graduates who considered it a rite of passage to race in it and fall clumsily.

Three months from today I'm headed to Shanghai, China, where I'm going to teach English to small Chinese children and the thought of it just makes me smile. It's not that I'm sick of the U.S., it's just that this is a time in life to (okay, fine) put off growing up and having a 9-5 job in an office (sorry, Jenna, but you're making bank, no hard feelings). Not that I'm putting off growing up, either, it's just awesome that I have the chance to leave and I'm going to do it.

Do I feel any more like a "real person" than I did yesterday before getting my name called and shaking the hand of the head of the Department of Communication at UMD? Nope. I still look 18.

--Becca

Yesterday I Graduated...

Yesterday I graduated college. It was surprisingly surreal and today I can honestly say I feel no different. I am supposed to be a grown up now, right? Then why hasn't my binge drinking slowed, and why does the sound of the ice cream truck coming down my road right now still get me WAY too excited? Maybe it's too soon. Perhaps I need to wait until my career takes off to fully feel the effects. What career, you ask?

Well, after years of soul searching, I came to the realization that I have no soul. And thus, I am diving head first into the shallow pit that is the business world. Only sort of kidding.

I double majored in Finance and Operations Management. Starting August, I will be moving to Manhattan to join the ranks of the largest consulting company in the world as a technology analyst. You may be thinking, "Oh, wow, a technology analyst. I bet she knows a lot about technology." To that I answer, "While that is a logical assumption, I am actually technology illiterate. " Really, my family won't even let me touch the TiVo at home in case I break something and I frequently think my printer is broken when I have forgotten to plug it in. Frequently.

But I have been assured that is OK. In reality I am going to be doing strategic consulting in the technology realm. It might sound boring and vague, but it is my dream job, and I could not be more excited. Apparently my problem solving skills will keep me successfully afloat -- and my business degree can't hurt. Hopefully the job description will become more clear in the near future.

All I know is that soon I will be like that woman from Up in the Air, traveling all the time (though unmarried, thank goodness). But not too soon. First I get one last Hurrah in Europe, traveling for 6 weeks with my friend Kristen, who you will hopefully meet soon. I will try to keep you posted during our travels, depending on the abundance of internet cafes in various cities.

I don't know where I will live or who I will live with when I get back -- that much is uncertain. But stay tuned to find out.

--Jenna

The Day After Yesterday

Yesterday, I graduated from college. That makes today the beginning of my life in the real world. At a young age, we're told that the real world is a big scary place where everything is hard and people will walk all over you. Life is hard and nothing is free. Blah blah blah (not the Ke$ha song).

I never really understood why people send young adults to college, a place second only to home school in its degree of insulation from reality, to prepare for a life in the real world. Do undergraduates really come out with the skills to survive in today's dog-eat-dog world?

Don't know, don't care. I'm going to school for another five years. TFG.

My BS (aptly named) in biochemistry is sort of what you might call, I don't know, useless (?). So I'm going to Duke University to further my education. Higher learning, knowledge, enlightenment, and all the like.

Only two and a half hours until my graduation party so I have to keep it short. I hope you will join myself and several of my good friends and fellow Terps as we leave College Park to go on to bigger and better things. Throughout the summer, we'll reflect on the past and look to the future. And as we go our separate ways, you can envy or pity us, or observe with indifference.

Grinnan Kevin is going to be so critical of this hastily written post.

-Kyle