29 january 2000
4:17pm
the beginning of the end

wow, so here i am, at the end of my second week here in my very last semester at swarthmore. how weird is that?? to answer my own question, very. but anyway. how about a quick synopsis of what's been orbiting my world since i last wrote?

i spend my last week in california at enh, and (of course) loved it. it really is the one place in the world that i'm the happiest. i had a cabin of 8 6th grade boys, was out on trail with bryan again, and despite the rain, had a super-fun week. plus, the amazing, wonderful thing is that they offerred me a job for next year. as an intern, working as head counselor and subbing on trail, and then the next year i would be a naturalist. god, how much would i love that job? and it's such an incredible feeling of having this large group of people really wanting me to work with them. i love feeling so loved. but i'm not sure if i'm going to do it, because, as todd pointed out to me, it wouldn't be very challenging to be the head counselor, since it's a position i've already had (granted, it was for a much shorter time period than a year). but i was also recommended to smoe (san mateo outdoor education), which is near enh but i would be teaching right away. so i could do that and then always move to enh the year after. so there's another option. but then again, i'm still somewhat interested in being someplace other than california, so i've got to keep that avenue open as well. who knows. but i have so much more confidence now about life after swat. it's a nice feeling.

my semester is starting out well, though slowly. biomechanics is a truly tough class, mostly because i haven't done anything like it before. i'm hoping that once i get settled into it it will become a bit easier. pottery is wonderful, i love the messy hands-on fun of it. and i seem to be picking it up pretty quickly, which helps eliminate the frustration of working in a new medium. working in bio2 is also good, because i'm getting much more out of it now then i did when i was actually in the class. it really helps to be at a point where i know how to take swat bio classes. and seriously, having to explain a concept to someone else really helps you to understand it as well.
on the non-academic side of things, i've been having fun with my friends, though i don't feel quite as social as last semester. neil and i have bonded even more this past week, and i'm grateful to have him in my life. the distance between david and i is tough at times, though it's not unexpected. and i think i've developed a much better outlook on the whole situation. but it still doesn't stop me from missing him from time to time.
i think the best part about the semester so far has been the snow. though the cold can get to me from time to time, i love being outside when snow is falling. one of the more magical moments i've had recently was standing outside in the courtyard with corey, around 11pm, looking up at the lunar eclipse and having the snow falling all around us. it was just beautiful.

4:35pm