Sadly, I think the subject of this post could be about either of the two events that have been dominating my time/mind lately: my graduation from college and *hangs head in shame* the American Idol finale. Discussion of the latter subject will have to wait, as I’m sure there are enough people on the internet debating the showdown of the “guy-next-door” versus the “guy-liner.” (Oh Seacrest, where will my Tuesday nights be without your witty punnings…). Yes, the internet certainly doesn’t need another thousand words about how Kris, despite what Simon Cowell wants you to think, is incredibly talented, interesting, and entertaining, and about how it’s possible for both Adam and Kris to be successful, and how Idol producers got a big Eff You from the American people and, and…*breathes deeply* Yes, clearly, I’m focusing on more important things in my life. Graduation. Yes. That. Let’s recap: 

Two weeks ago I headed into Boston for probably the last time in a while. That fact has yet to sink in. I probably won’t be back to Boston for at least a year or two. *Deep breath* Ok, continuing…the first part of my week there was dominated by Senior Week events. Saturday, Jillian and I headed to Martha’s Vineyard for a rainy day excursion. Highlights of the day included eating at a ridiculously cute diner right out of “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” and seeing this: 

The other events were all essentially drinking parties in various “exciting” locales. First up was a beach party in Quincy, MA, which was really just an excuse to get us all to ride on school buses one last time and have a large dance party. 

Jillian and I on the bus!

The next event was a Habor Cruise which should really be labled awkard encounters at a party you can’t leave, as that is really what it is. Luckily, there was ample space for dancing to forget the awkwardness, and I got to wear my fierce new green dress.

All in all, the night was a success for nothing else than for allowing me (and pretty much everyone on board) to break out into a rousing rendition of “I’m on a Boat” at least once.

Later in the week, I got to start checking off items on my “Things I Always Wanted to do in Boston” list. First up was going on the Sam Adams Brewery tour. Our tour guide was super fun, and not just because she gave us three glasses of free beer, PLUS a free glass! 

Surprisingly, one of my favorite events was the COM (That would be the College of Communications) reception, as most of my friends throughout college were in COM, since I lived on a COM floor my freshman year and most of my classes have been populated by the Communications crowd. I saw and talked to a ton of people I haven’t talked to in forever, realized even more people I know are moving to LA, and caught up with one of my best friends who is doing Philadelphia Teaching Fellows next year, who promised we could swap war stories next year and start our own Charter School in two, which will be named after some Arrested Development quote as that is all we talk about most of the time. 

Friday, my family descended on Boston. Stephanie arrived super early on the red eye. Her friend from grad school, Jenny, came later in the afternoon, followed by my parents and grandparents. We all hung out Friday night, me taking pictures of everyone else playing street baseball. (I guess I should note here that I have three cousins between the ages of 6 and 9 that live in Boston. It wasn’t just my grandparents playing t-ball.) It was like something out of an adorable suburban movie. 

Saturday, we did the final touristy thing I’ve been dying to do since I got to Boston: the Duck Tour! It was epic, of course. We heckled people from out hot pink boat, and I got to drive in the Charles River. Cheesey fun was had by all. (Pictures are coming, and will most likely go on my photoblog. All the the pictures on here are from my point and shoot. Duck Boat pictures, obviously, required the DSLR.)

Saturday night, we headed out to my favorite restaurant in Jamaica Plains for my final celebratory dinner. We got cupcakes from Sweet (again, photos on my other camera have yet to be uploaded….), and everyone toasted to me, as I toasted to my family in Boston for being amazing these last few years, and everyone got full of off a crazy good meal. 

Sunday was…surreal. Putting on my cap and gown, I felt like a fake. College graduates are old. They are adults. They don’t scream and fall on the floor when their favorite Idol contestant wins. (Yes, that happened, followed by my yelling “You’ve got to be f*cking kidding me!” when an emergency alert came on 10 seconds later.) They don’t sing at the top of their lungs to Miley Cyrus every time they get in their car. They have jobs and houses and *gulp* families. Yes, I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but this is my last milestone before things like “marriage,” “kids,” and..ugh….bills. I don’t feel old. I don’t feel like an adult. So sitting there in that cap and gown thinking about how long ago the last time I donned one of these ridiculous outfits seems yet how fast it all went. The actual ceremonies were surprisingly great. At the COM ceremony, I realized how many people I actually knew in school and got completely weirded out by seeing them all in cap and gown. We had a speaker from the TV industry, which to all us TV and Film kids was a ridiculous shock after four years of having Journalism and PR shoved down our throats (and being pointed to the basement of the arena for line-up.) The speaker for the undergraduates reminded us all about our first class in college, and I flashed back to the day I received my first C ever, in that very class, and cried about it for days and the amazing feeling I got when I ended up with an A- in the class. Ah, memories. Then I walked up on stage, shook my department chair’s hand, and got my diploma folder. 

After a ridiculously quick bite to eat at U Burger (oh, U Burger french fries….I think I’ll miss you most of all…) I met up with Jillian to line up for the big, all-university commencement. It was madness. Larry Bird AND Steven Speilberg were awarded honorary degrees. Our Congressmen, Mike Capuano, gave an excellent speech that started by giving a verbal beat down to all the haters and complainers that seem to flock to BU in huge numbers for bitching about how uncool our commencement speaker was. Afterwards, I filed out with thousands of my fellow new alumni, gave Jillian a huge hug, and left the BU campus with my parents for an indefinite period of time for the first time since I was 18. 

So…I’m done with college. I know (kind of) what the next two years of my life hold for me, but after that, who the heck knows. It’s weird that my life now has nothing guiding it, nothing organizing it, nothing saying this is where you should be at this age: there is just me, making decisions, living my life, doing what I can and what I want. It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet. 

(And now, even though I liked my commencement speaker a lot, I’ll leave with you Ellen’s message for the class of 2009, because she’s awesome.)

This week can be summed up in one word: graduation. And family. And madness. And back pain. (Am I too old to sleep on futons yet?)

Ok, so that was a lot of words, but this past week was a lot of things. And I took a lot of pictures. And I need a day to organize and digest and unpack. Once I do all that, I’ll update. Excited yet? I thought so.

Now I’m off to try to clear out my DVR. I’m glad I have my priorities in order.

Last weekend, I headed up to Boston for round one of my Senior Week/College Graduation events. Walking around campus felt weird – I’d simultaneously felt like I’d already moved on, especially as everyone cried about having their last classes, while I’ve been out of classes for months, and like I wasn’t ready to leave. Every building I walked by on campus has these ridiculously vivid memories – classes I’ve taken, events I attended, places I’d lived – that I couldn’t stop thinking about as I walked around. Boston has become more of a hometown to me than anywhere else I can think of, and the thought of leaving for good is kind of heartbreaking. 

Moving around a lot as a kid and attending four (!!) different schools during my four years of high school led me to not attach myself too strongly to any school or any place. When high school ended, I was more than happy to move on.  I was ready to tackle college, and aside from a very small handful of good friends (Hi Kaitlin!), there wasn’t much I’d miss about high school. Same goes for every time I moved – my family always seemed to time our movings to coincide with a rough patch in my life, so moving to a new place seemed like an excellent way to make a needed change. Sure, there were friends I missed like crazy and little things about each town we lived in I was sad to leave behind, but I never found myself thinking, “I’m really not ready to leave.” 

Leaving Boston is and will be so much different. While I’ve come and gone from Boston for the last four years for summers and vacations, I always knew I was coming back. It always seemed like a home base. This “semester” at home has felt like that too. While I know in my mind I’m done with school, I’ve still known I would be heading back for Senior Week and graduation. I still knew I’d see all my friends again. After graduation, though, I’m going to be joining everyone else in the collective freak-out of “Oh my god, I really have to leave now, don’t I?!”

During Senior Breakfast, they showed a “slideshow” of every group picture from our orientation four years ago. When I saw my group’s picture, I saw my blond, shorter hair, my heinous pink t-shirt I thought was fierce, and one of my best friends I hadn’t realized was in my orientation group until sophomore year when we’d been discussing our various orientation leaders over lunch and discovered the coincidence. It felt like SO long ago, while simultaneously feeling like it was only yesterday, like I still needed more time in this place. Then I saw that same friend presented with an amazing award, and while the Dean of Students read of a list of all the accomplishments my friend had racked up in the last four years, I realized we all had enough time in college. We’d all done amazing things, made our mark there, and maybe were ready to move on. 

That night, I attended a special dinner party for all the Teach For America corps members from my school at the Dean of Student’s house (who, by the way, is the greatest school administrator, possibly ever. I follow him on twitter, and I’m told he once held a High School Musical 2 viewing party at his house. To say I was excited to be invited to this dinner would be a gross understatement.) Talking to the other corps members about where we were headed, about teacher certification tests, curriculum changes, and of course, that pesky achievement gap, I felt ready – ready to take on another ridiculous challenge, ready to call another city home, and ready to leave that blond-haired, pink-shirt wearing college girl behind. Almost. No, I am…I think.  

Friday, I head up for the 10-day extravaganza that is Senior Week and Graduation. At the end of it, my family will join me in Boston, take me on a Duck Tour, and watch me graduate from college. Hopefully, by the end of it, I’ll be ready to say good-by to Boston…but that doesn’t mean I won’t be bawling as I do it.