This is too much stress for my first senior year

Last time, I was lamenting on how I am some combination of excited and/or nervous about my friends and myself being so close to the real world. Well, it turns out I am not as close to that real world as I then thought.

I had an audit on Tuesday and I found out that it will take me another three semesters to graduate. Or two if I really bust my ass and take summer classes, which potentially could lower my GPA into the range of no-longer-graduating-with-honors numbers.

I will have plenty of friends left in Mt. Pleasant next semester/year, so I am not too worried about Central no longer being fun with so many friends graduating. It's just that I feel it shouldn't take me too much more than four years to get a Bachelor's Degree. If someone finds out it took me 11 years to get complete a four-year degree (an extreme exaggeration, I hope), then I will be looked at as some kind of deadbeat slacker. "You're graduating college at 29-years old!? What the hell were you doing!? Drinking everyday? Coke addiction? Gambling at Soaring Eagle?"

I don't need that. I'm not a slacker. I have two majors (one was switched to a major with a concentration), a minor, education classes, degree requirements (all of which I finished before the university decided to lighten that load a tad), and university requirements.

Anyway, appearing like a slacker isn't my biggest concern. I feel stuck in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan right now. If I had to choose where I would want to be stuck, Mt. Pleasant would not even be close to the top of my list. I should be traveling the world instead of spending more time on my undergrad. Or at least teaching somewhere groovy. That's the main thing. College is great, and I honestly wouldn't trade the experience for the world (another exaggeration. There isn't much I wouldn't trade for the world, but college really has been excellent), but I feel like I'm dragging my feet here instead of doing what I really want to do: help people and teach.


Well, now that I got that off my back, here's some things I've been pondering about lately:

My roommate explained this theory to me recently that there are numerous bird names that could also be names for male genitalia. Here's a sampling:

1. Bare-eyed Cockatoo
2. Goliath Palm Cockatoo
3. Blue-naped Parrot
4. Zanzibar Brown-headed Parrot
5. Hooded Parrot
6. Woodpecker
7. Woodcock
8. Woodstar
9. Frigatebirds
10. Flicker
11. Hamerkop
12. Helmet-Shrike
13. Lapwing
14. Limpkin
15. Pale-headed Rosella
16. Riflebird
17. Wagtail
18. Swallow
And our personal favorite: The Purple Martin

In other news, I realized that the only time-telling device I trust is my phone. Whenever I wear a watch, I check the watch only to reach into my pocket and grab my phone in order to make sure that the watch is accurate. There are also bells on campus that ring every 15 minutes. Whenever I'm walking to class and they ring, I know what time it is, but I'll still check my phone to check the accuracy. And even if I overhear someone telling someone else what time it is, I like to check my phone to see whether or not that person is correct.

Another musing that I have been bouncing around in my head is: Do frat boys talk shit about non-Greeks as much as we do to them? (Probably) When someone is sporting their Greek letters, I can usually make an accurate snap judgment about what kind of person that is. [Disclaimer: Key Word usually. Not always. While I have met and known many Greeks that aren't complete douches, unfortunately the majority ruins it for those exceptions.] But I wonder if they mock my non-Greek status as much as I mock them:
"Hey, look at that guy. I bet he's tolerant of other people's race, sexual orientation, religion, sex, and socioeconomic status."
"Hey, this guy probably likes good music."
"Do you think he has any friends if he's not in a fraternity?"
"He's probably never even jumped a guy or been in a 7:1-ratio fight."

Just some things to think about.
Until next time, Love, Peace,

and the White-headed Pionus?

Excited/Scared

I have never had trouble scheduling for classes until this past few weeks. I have been preparing for fall 09, the beginning of my 2^nd senior year.

My feelings about scheduling the past week remind me of a quote from Owen Wilson’s short-lived character in the 1998 disasterpiece Armageddon: "Great, I got that 'excited/scared' feeling. Like 98% excited, 2% scared. Or maybe it's more - It could be two - it could be 98% scared, 2% excited but that's what makes it so intense, it's so - confused. I can't really figure it out."

If I’m going through this much nervous excitement when I still have a year left, I cant imagine what my soon-to-be-graduate friends (which is most of them) are going through. I recently had to calm down a friend who was freaking out about the future. Preparing for my teaching cohorts and midtiers, student teaching, portfolios, etc. are stressful enough, but a lot of my friends are worrying about much more stressful things, i.e. graduation, job interviews, moving. And this stuff is right around the corner for me.

I never claimed to be a good writer, so I don't feel too bad about not knowing how to describe the nervous-excited feeling, but I do know that it is normal. Everyone goes through big transitions in their life. My last one was moving away to college, and I just had a friend who retired from a 30-year career. Although the nervousness and excitement are expected, it doesn't make the feeling in one's gut any less intense. However, I know all of my friends, both high school and college, are going to be successful in all of their varying career paths. I am proud of all you soon-to-be-graduates, and you should be too.

In other news, NASA recently had a contest to name a new wing of the International Space Station. The winner? "Colbert," after host of The Colbert Report Stephen Colbert. Members of the Colbert Nation have had disappointment with contests like this before; Hungary declined to name a bridge "Colbert" after a similar online election because the talk show host is neither Hungarian nor dead. Also, his name was denied for the South Carolina Democratic Presidential primary. Representative Chaka Fattah (D-PA) released a statement in favor of the winning name: "NASA decided to hold an election to name its new room at the International Space Station and the clear winner is Stephen Colbert. The people have spoken, and Stephen Colbert won it fair and square..." To be clear, Colbert did mobilize his fans to vote for the name, but NASA chose to have this online election. I urge them to do the right thing, the democratic thing.

Finally, I would like to admit that after Oscar's nervous-excitement in Armageddon, he was soon killed off. I'll try not to let that worry me; I suggest you do the same.

I'll try not to let a year pass before I write again. Until next time, Love, Peace, and

Colbert In Space?