As the semester comes to a close, so too does my required blog post each week. Going into this experience, having to keep a blog on anything for a semester, I was a little unsure. Writing has never been my strong suit, and the idea of having to sit down and write about something, anything, each and every week was not something that I looked forward to doing.

For starters, choosing what to write about on a weekly basis was always a challenge. While the arts are supposed to go hand-in-hand with creative thinking, I’m pretty sure I was not given any of that creative ability. I’m a pretty straight forward and logical-minded person. In any case, I did somehow manage to find something to write about each week, and I think I am better off for it.

Even though writing anything is not an activity which I enjoy, I found that this entire experience was one that really engaged my brain and made me stop to think for a bit. I rarely take the time anymore to sit down and just brainstorm thoughts on a given topic. Life gets busy and you can get so caught up running around trying to get everything done and make everyone happy, that you forget to just stop and take stock of your thoughts.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue to blog on a regular basis after this class is over, but now at lease I know that I have a space where I can write my thoughts if I want to share them late at night when I can’t sleep.

  A harmless enough question. Someone might be asking you about your profession, your year in school, or many other things. However, more often than not when I am asked this question, it is not in reference to any of those things. People what to know my nationality.

 

In response to this question, I have taken up playing my favorite game…. “What do you think I am?”

The responses I get are numerous and varying, and never cease to make me laugh. Apparently I can convincingly pass for mixes of Italian, African American, Native American, Latina, Greek, Lebanese, Asian, Pacific Islander….the list goes on and on. I laugh because as far as I know, I am none of the above. Unlike many people who can be classified as racially ambiguous, I am not some strange mixture of many different races. Most of my family lines can all be traced back to one place: Germany. Those who feel the need to inquire as to the origins of my ancestors commonly will not believe me when I tell them this, and that’s completely fine by me. It’s always fun to know that you have the ability to blend in in many cultures.

 

The thing that bothers me about this whole situation though is not that people mistakenly believe me to be a different race than I am. (I could honestly care less about races…people are people) What really bothers me is that people feel the need to find out exactly what you are. The cultural idea of sorting people based on where their ancestors are originally from. It doesn’t matter if your family just came to the US yesterday, or if it was so far back that no one even remembers at this point. The idea of classifying people based on checked boxes on a form has permeated our society, and I am not sure that this helping us to become more accepting of different cultures at all.

So what are you?

I am a human being. I am part of the human race. I am a person who loves music and loves to sing. I am a person who takes a while to open up to new friendships, but who is completely loyal to the people I do let in.

I am not a checked box. I am more than the color of my skin, which changes from season to season.

I am human.

What are you?

While I’m not a senior this year, and I won’t have to face the reality of graduation for another year, the commencement ceremony that draws ever closer for current seniors has me thinking about the ways that you can get the most out of the time you have left.

This is the last time in your life when you will be able to wake up 15 minutes before class starts, throw on some sweats, and still make it to class in a semi-presentable manner. In a very short time you will have to start getting up early enough to shower, put on real clothes/make up, and actually do your hair. Along with that, you have to stay looking this nice for over eight hours. That’s right ladies, no hurrying home from that hour and a half long class to take your bra off and get comfy.

The idea of staying out anywhere past 10 p.m. on a weeknight will be insanity, and the amount of time you will have to be able to devote to extracurricular that you actually enjoy will diminish substantially. So much so that you might say that the time evaporates.

The most important point that I can make, would be to not try to rush through it. I could look at this upcoming year as a home-stretch. I could try to sprint to the finish line that is the future of adulthood and making grown-up life choices, but  where is the fun in that? Graduation will still come at the same time no matter how you get there, so slow down and enjoy the ride. Savor each little thing. Will it seem stupid to others and even yourself to constantly remind yourself that “this is the last….”? Yes, it will. But it is the last one. Take the time to remember it.

You (should) only get to experience this once.

When some people find out that my mom and I are close, they think it’s strange. Some people just aren’t into having close relationships with their parents, and that’s fine. But my mom has been my best friend since the beginning of time, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

1. I talk to her everyday and it’s because I want to. If anything important happens in my life, I pick up the phone and she is the first to know.

2. She is my biggest supporter. She knows I can do anything, and she always pushes me to be the best that I can be.

3. We borrow each other’s clothes. Some of her stuff is so cute that I end up stealing it.

4. She never sugar coats anything for me. If I call her with a problem, she’ll always have a step by step plan to fix it. Even though sometimes I wish she would just listen and let me rant, I know that she wouldn’t be my mom if she didn’t have a plan.

4. She is the best shopping partner ever. She always knows what will look good, and has no problem telling me if something looks bad.

5. Every now and then, she sends me flowers at school “just because”, and it always brightens up my day.

6. I wonder every day how I will ever be half the mother that she is.