Graduating tomorrow.
Here we go...
Here we go...
14 May 2011
30 April 2011
29 April 2011
rolling on
Done!
With classes at least.
Still have finals. And then let the senior celebrations and graduation parties start!
I love graduation. There is nothing better than the feeling of optimism, relief, nervousness, and excitement that comes with being a graduating senior. High school graduation, college graduation, masters grduation, PhD graduation....maybe I can stay in school for the rest of my life?
This last month has been awesome. Graduation has been keeping me motivated to push through the finish line and I've been finding projects and issues that I'm really passionate about. I think maybe I'm back to being myself again? As in being present and engaged in what makes me happy and motivated.
Let's see... my pink toes campaign has been going well (got press coverage!). Got my op-ed published in the newspaper. Spoke on a panel about diversity. Won 4 awards for my study-abroad photos, which will be featured in the alumni magazine. Will be in NYC for a two-week vegan cooking class in July. Also will be profiled in the bio department newsletter (even though I'm just a bio minor). I've been actively engaged in mentoring people going to study abroad and it's not winter in Rochester anymore!
Not to make that all sound like a ego-inflating masturbatory fest, but it's been really nice to feel passionate about things again and also doesn't hurt to be recognized :)
There's still a million things I need to do that are stressing me out right now, but for the first time this semester, I think I can relax for a bit. At least until finals next week....
With classes at least.
Still have finals. And then let the senior celebrations and graduation parties start!
I love graduation. There is nothing better than the feeling of optimism, relief, nervousness, and excitement that comes with being a graduating senior. High school graduation, college graduation, masters grduation, PhD graduation....maybe I can stay in school for the rest of my life?
This last month has been awesome. Graduation has been keeping me motivated to push through the finish line and I've been finding projects and issues that I'm really passionate about. I think maybe I'm back to being myself again? As in being present and engaged in what makes me happy and motivated.
Let's see... my pink toes campaign has been going well (got press coverage!). Got my op-ed published in the newspaper. Spoke on a panel about diversity. Won 4 awards for my study-abroad photos, which will be featured in the alumni magazine. Will be in NYC for a two-week vegan cooking class in July. Also will be profiled in the bio department newsletter (even though I'm just a bio minor). I've been actively engaged in mentoring people going to study abroad and it's not winter in Rochester anymore!
Not to make that all sound like a ego-inflating masturbatory fest, but it's been really nice to feel passionate about things again and also doesn't hurt to be recognized :)
There's still a million things I need to do that are stressing me out right now, but for the first time this semester, I think I can relax for a bit. At least until finals next week....
07 April 2011
back from hiatus
Wow.
So I think that's one of the longest stretches I've gone without writing in this. Apologies for those of you who've been just hanging on the edge of your seat for the last two months.
Yeah, so I was definitely struggling with coming-back and readjusting to normal life again. Mainly it was hard to again sit in classes where I felt like I wasn't learning anything. Still feel that way.
I don't know if it's my classes or a change in my priorities/learning style/interests.
Nevertheless, I'm excited to graduate this May and move into the next portion of my life, which is hopefully not dominated by weekly tests and papers. This semester has been pretty stressful for me. Just a matter of buckling down and getting through it.
I would say I'm definitely out of whatever funk I was in and moving on with my life. Visiting friends from Semester at Sea and Ecuador and Tanzania and from back home helped ALOT. Reminds me of what's important in life - the ones you love. And travelling to Atlanta, New York City, and Denver kept my feet in the air - where they so often want to be.
But it's time to be grounded and get my plans together for next year.
GRE's, grad-school apps and finding a job, here I come. And maybe some quick trips to keep things interesting :)
So I think that's one of the longest stretches I've gone without writing in this. Apologies for those of you who've been just hanging on the edge of your seat for the last two months.
Yeah, so I was definitely struggling with coming-back and readjusting to normal life again. Mainly it was hard to again sit in classes where I felt like I wasn't learning anything. Still feel that way.
I don't know if it's my classes or a change in my priorities/learning style/interests.
Nevertheless, I'm excited to graduate this May and move into the next portion of my life, which is hopefully not dominated by weekly tests and papers. This semester has been pretty stressful for me. Just a matter of buckling down and getting through it.
I would say I'm definitely out of whatever funk I was in and moving on with my life. Visiting friends from Semester at Sea and Ecuador and Tanzania and from back home helped ALOT. Reminds me of what's important in life - the ones you love. And travelling to Atlanta, New York City, and Denver kept my feet in the air - where they so often want to be.
But it's time to be grounded and get my plans together for next year.
GRE's, grad-school apps and finding a job, here I come. And maybe some quick trips to keep things interesting :)
05 February 2011
integrating
need to shake these re-entry blues.
need to shake these re-entry blues.
need to shake these re-entry blues.
need to shake these re-entry blues.
Damnit. I promised myself I wouldn't be that guy. You know, the one who comes back
and can't stop talking about being abroad
and how hard it is coming back
and how much I want to go away again
and blah blah blah.
But seriously...
having some major difficulty adjusting to this completely foreign, yet familiar, life again.
need to shake these re-entry blues.
need to shake these re-entry blues.
need to shake these re-entry blues.
Damnit. I promised myself I wouldn't be that guy. You know, the one who comes back
and can't stop talking about being abroad
and how hard it is coming back
and how much I want to go away again
and blah blah blah.
But seriously...
having some major difficulty adjusting to this completely foreign, yet familiar, life again.
27 January 2011
again
Dear those who are probably good-intentioned but lack the knowledge/effort to fully understand,
The phrase "African" is not an all-encompassing word to describe the limitless number of cultures, people, geography and ideas of a whole continent. BE SPECIFIC.
And in no way does the word deserve that degrading tone in which you say it with. You, are not better.
Joking about malnutrition, famine, genocide and dictators is not funny, nor accurate.
Thanks.
In turn, I will try to be a more understanding person and not hate you forever.
xxoo,
Eric
The phrase "African" is not an all-encompassing word to describe the limitless number of cultures, people, geography and ideas of a whole continent. BE SPECIFIC.
And in no way does the word deserve that degrading tone in which you say it with. You, are not better.
Joking about malnutrition, famine, genocide and dictators is not funny, nor accurate.
Thanks.
In turn, I will try to be a more understanding person and not hate you forever.
xxoo,
Eric
17 January 2011
If
A year ago today, I started a trip 10 years in the making.
When I was just barely 12 years old, I remember hearing about this program where university students spend a a few months travelling around the world on a ship - visiting countries and studying. The details were over my head at the time, but I do remember that it sounded perfect. Though being in 7th grade, I knew it would be awhile before I could even start to think seriously about it.
I later learned the program was called Semester at Sea. And as I grew up, went through high school and then entered college, I knew I HAD to make it happen.
[Skip through a lot of decision making processes and long conversations] and in Spring 2010 I was getting off the bus in Ensenada, Mexico taking my first look at the big blue ship that would be my home for the next few months, the big blue ship that I had dreamed about for so many years.
Little did I know at the time of walking up the gangway onto that ship that I was about to embark on the voyage that would change my life.
In my other posts from Semester at Sea, I talk about my experiences in greater depth which are experiences that I feel just as poignantly a year later today. And especially when I'm telling people about that trip, sometimes I have to even stop myself and think, "Wow, I can't believe that happened." It's so surreal sometimes to think about it.
Visiting 9 different countries, meeting so many people around the world, and learning about things so different than the usual really opened my eyes to what is happening in the world and my place in it. It really taught me what is important - mainly that there is SO much that I can give no matter how little that is.
And the trip is what inspired me to then study in Tanzania, taking the time to stay in one place for a while rather than globe-hop. A decision that I will never regret.
And now, sitting back here at school after that post-SAS trip to Tanzania, I am grateful for how one opportunity led to the next. And that after I graduate this semester, opportunities seem even larger and more realistic. After the most amazing, scary, uncomfortable, demanding, rewarding, and travel-filled year of my life yet, I cannot wait for what's next.
When I was just barely 12 years old, I remember hearing about this program where university students spend a a few months travelling around the world on a ship - visiting countries and studying. The details were over my head at the time, but I do remember that it sounded perfect. Though being in 7th grade, I knew it would be awhile before I could even start to think seriously about it.
I later learned the program was called Semester at Sea. And as I grew up, went through high school and then entered college, I knew I HAD to make it happen.
[Skip through a lot of decision making processes and long conversations] and in Spring 2010 I was getting off the bus in Ensenada, Mexico taking my first look at the big blue ship that would be my home for the next few months, the big blue ship that I had dreamed about for so many years.
Little did I know at the time of walking up the gangway onto that ship that I was about to embark on the voyage that would change my life.
In my other posts from Semester at Sea, I talk about my experiences in greater depth which are experiences that I feel just as poignantly a year later today. And especially when I'm telling people about that trip, sometimes I have to even stop myself and think, "Wow, I can't believe that happened." It's so surreal sometimes to think about it.
Visiting 9 different countries, meeting so many people around the world, and learning about things so different than the usual really opened my eyes to what is happening in the world and my place in it. It really taught me what is important - mainly that there is SO much that I can give no matter how little that is.
And the trip is what inspired me to then study in Tanzania, taking the time to stay in one place for a while rather than globe-hop. A decision that I will never regret.
And now, sitting back here at school after that post-SAS trip to Tanzania, I am grateful for how one opportunity led to the next. And that after I graduate this semester, opportunities seem even larger and more realistic. After the most amazing, scary, uncomfortable, demanding, rewarding, and travel-filled year of my life yet, I cannot wait for what's next.
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