Such is life

What am I going to do with my life?

Lately, I have been especially plagued with this question. See, I am a planner. An overly compulsive, neurotic planner. I am also someone who is trying to come to terms with the fact that things hardly ever turn out exactly how I attempt to plan them. At any rate, I just typed "what should I do with my life?" into the Google search bar. I am distraught.

I know I have time. I am only a junior, and I plan to go to graduate school, so a long-term career is not anywhere in the near future for me. But I know that in a year or two when I sit down with grad school brochures and applications, I will have an ounce more insight than I would have had I not worried about it now. And so I plan.

But should I go to law school or get a Master's degree? And if I get a Master's, do I continue studying English, or do I pursue Education? And if I teach, do I teach high school? The funny thing is, I know I won't become an attorney if I go to law school. I want to go into public service. So, whether I become a teacher or a public servant, I will be poor and living in a box. At least that is cleared up for me.

I have also been considering what to do immediately upon graduation. Yes, this is over a year away, but once I come back from England I need to decided whether or not I will apply for graduate schools in the fall. I do think I will wait, though. I want to either get a job and work for a year after graduation or get involved with a program like AmeriCorps or Teach for America, things I have been looking into for a while now. Perhaps after taking this time off, I will be more sure about what I want to do.

Until then, I will continue to plan, dismiss any and all plans I make, and hopefully end up being substantially happy.

Overdue

It is November. The end of the semester is upon us.

And Obama won the election. It is a very exciting time to be an American.

As far as school things go, everything is the same. I have five trillion papers due in two weeks and haven't really thought about any of them. Events of campus have been plentiful lately, though. Last week I wrote an article for the Suffolk Voice about John Sigler's visit to Suffolk. Sigler is the President of the National Rifle Association and spoke about Second Amendment rights and the election. Although I did not agree with many of Sigler's views, it was certainly an interesting opportunity to hear him speak.

For now, the biggest thing on my mind has been the pilot study for my InterFuture project. Last month I really dug into it, but I have been slacking lately. Between that and all of the end of semester assignments, I know I have my work cut out for me.

Short post today. Enjoy the week!

Decisions, Decisions

Last night I slept for ten hours. It was glorious.

Last week was pretty hectic, with quite a few assignments due and InterFuture Take III due on Friday, but it was nice to take a break from it all and go to see the Boston Ballet's Cinderella with my mom. We were lucky enough to get inexpensive seats really close to the stage, and the show was great! The picture to the right is from bostonballet.org. I was checking out the website and am already looking forward to their performance of the Nutcracker!

One of the major perks of living at home this semester is that I get to spend a lot of time with my three year-old brother, John, before I head off to London for three months. While he may get a little obnoxious sometimes, I have loved spending extra time with him this semester. This Saturday my parents threw their annual Halloween party (they think they are 15), so I agreed to John duty all day. Once I got home from working the Student to Student Information Session, we went to the playground and had a blast. Then, we had a "slumber party" in the basement. I will certainly miss him when I'm gone for three months.

Today I met with the Director of Student Activities to talk about an article I'm writing for the Suffolk Voice about adequate space on campus for club/organization offices and meetings. It was great to get to talk to him about Student Activities, as they are, in my opinion, the heart and soul of the Suffolk community. He even introduced me to a Graduate Fellow who studied abroad in London and suggested she and I get lunch sometime to talk about her experiences there. Ah, I absolutely cannot wait to go. It is all I have been thinking about lately!

The week ahead looks pretty good. Wednesday the Princeton Review is hosting a Law School Workshop here at Suffolk. They are going to talk about law school applications, resumes, and personal statements. I am definitely considering law school, but probably not right after I graduate from Suffolk. Well, I really have no idea. Sometimes I think about going to get my Master's instead. So many decisions. I figure there is no better time than now to start thinking about it, though, so I am looking forward to this event.

That's all for now, though. Enjoy the week.

Blogday

Fridays seem to be blogday for me.

This weekend is a big one on campus - Family Weekend. Suffolk offers all kinds of activities for students to take part in with their families like Duck Tours and a trip to the Museum of Science. Tonight, I am attending Fall Fest, a variety show put on by the Performing Arts Office. Then, I'm spending the night in Boston and working at the Student to Student Info Session tomorrow morning.

As far as classes go, things are going smoothly. I had a midterm in my Race and Politics in South Africa class today and that went really well, and the due date for Take III of my nterFuture project has been extended. I can definitely deal with that.

Next week looks like it will be pretty busy. I am on the editorial staff of Suffolk's literary magazine, Venture, and we are having our first selections meeting. I can't wait to read the submissions we have received so far. What I am most looking forward to, though, is seeing the Boston Ballet's performance of Cinderella next Wednesday with my mom:)

I am surprisingly calm for this point in the semester. There is a lot of work and I'm constantly running all over campus, but the leaves are falling and London is only three months away. Ah, life.

ELEPHANTS!

Happy Friday, blog readers! It is a gorgeous day in the city and I am looking especially forward to getting out of the office and giving a campus tour in a half hour.

Aside from catching a mild cold, I have really enjoyed this week. Lately, I was starting to feel discouraged by my commute. I felt like I was always on the train and never getting anything done. And, of course, I was sleep deprived. After a satisfying hiberation last weekend, though, I have begun to feel much better.

On Wednesday, I went to free college night at the New England Aquarium. I got to gawk at penguins for a while and was even able to see an IMAX fIlm (Wild Ocean) for free. Definitely a successful evening if you ask me.

The highlight of my week, however, was this morning when I was walking out of North Station and saw ELEPHANTS walking down Causeway Street. I really have not been able to contain my excitement. I guess the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus is in town for a few weeks. I've never been a big circus person, but I can definitely deal with seeing elephants on my way to school.

As far as school goes, things are pretty much the same. Professors are talking about midterms, and I can't believe we are almost halfway through with the semester. I have a lot of work to catch up on this weekend - Take III of my InterFuture Project Plan is due in a week and a half!

When I'm not working, though, I will be spending time at home. We have family driving in from Buffalo, NY today for a weekend visit, so the next few days are sure to be busy!

I need a vacation

It just won't stop raining.

The days are starting to blur together and I'm losing sleep. The work is piling up, too. I guess the commute is starting to weigh me down. Hopefully I will be able to re-charge over the weekend and start fresh next week.

Tonight I am staying in Boston with my friend Sarah to see St. Vincent and Death Cab for Cutie at the Agganis Arena. Then, tomorrow night there is an InterFuture event at Suffolk. Current InterFuture scholars are going to present their research to us before they submit their projects. I am hoping that hearing current scholars present their work will push me in the right direction with my own. I have started contacting people for interviews for the United States portion of my project, so life is a little crazy right now.

Just a short post for today. I am about to head downstairs to give a tour at 3. Hopefully it won't be too chilly out there.

My Life is Full of Wonderful Cakes

I really do love September. But I need to stop wearing flip flops.

The Temple Street Fair went very well last week. A lot of my SU101 students were there, and I was happy to see them signing up for clubs. I wrote an article about it for the Suffolk Voice. You should read it.

This weekend, I was lucky enough to celebrate my 20th birthday with my favorite people. Friday, I went to Al Dente, one of my favorite restaurants in the North End, with my fellow Ambassador, Beckee, and my friends Nick and Jess. Then, we went back to Beckee's apartment where the cutest surprise party ever was waiting for me:) And! Beckee made me a wonderful cake - a giant cupcake! When I first decided to commute this semester, I was worried about staying connected to my friends, but this weekend proved to me that I have met amazing people here at Suffolk who I will stay connected to no matter where I am.

Then, on Friday my boyfriend, Chris and I went to Villa Francesca in the North End (another one of my favorites!). It was a great night in the city. Afterwards, we went to Finale for dessert and got fondue! I am so happy that I got to spend my birthday weekend in the city - I love everything about Boston.

Now, another week has begun. I have a huge InterFuture submission due today, but I think I have it under control. I really couldn't be happier with the start of Fall weather and the great schedule I have this semester. Things are sure to get crazy at some point, but for now, I'm taking it all in.