Packing and Graduation

As is tradition, at the end of the school year, I always have to pack up my room (or, in the case of the last two years, my apartment). Not that big of a deal...until I realized that this is the last time I have to do this at ONU. Yesterday I took all the stuff off my walls...which consisted of all the information for "Nor the Battle." All of that information has lived in that exact location for two years. It's kind of sad that it will need to find a new home now--I'm thinking about buying a plastic file for all the info I've accumulated over the past years for this story. I hope my outline feels at home in one of those, rather than on a wall...

I graduate from ONU tomorrow afternoon. Today was the rehearsal (boring) and my parents are coming up for the reception/banquet/worship that's all going on tonight. Scary thought...graduating.

Song of the day...

One of my favorite singers is Stephanie J. Block. She has a new CD coming out (it's on iTunes now, hard copy out June 2) called "This Place I Know." There's a song in particular on the album that has spoken to me deeply, and I've listened to it a million times. This song is called "Gotta Start Small" and there's a section of the song that I really relate to, which might be why I love it so much. Granted, this section is talking about writing a song, but it means the same to me as I've been working on this novel.

I wrote a song today
And I feel strong today
'Cause I belong today
To those who create
An empty page was all I had
I thought it out,
Put pen to pad,
And as I added each line of mine
I felt something great
Using my hands and feeling fulfilled
As for the song,
I'm not that skilled,
Still every builder who learns a craft
Keeps growing by the draft
It's just a draft

And after all
Gotta start small
Facing a bigger, more rigorous challenge,
That's quite a climb,
I'd rather cling to each thing I can conquer
One at a time

Taking a risk is most of the battle
A victory to claim
Taking a risk, no matter how little
Small, but commital
Is risking all the same

Graduation

In 15 days, I'll be a graduate of Ohio Northern University. Today I attended my last AXD initiation and my last Honors Day. And then I got my cap and gown...and suddenly, at that moment, it seemed 100% real. Being the epic dork that I am, as soon as I got home, I tried it on with the dress I bought a few weeks ago (fits great). And then I proceeded to put the tassel on the mortar board and see how the whole thing looked in the bathroom mirror. The only thing I could think was..."holy crap."

It's a scary thing, this graduation--not unlike writing a novel. I'm terrified of what the future holds, mostly because I don't know what it holds. I can't believe my academic career is winding down and in 15 more days, I will no longer be a student. I've been a student since pre-school...that's a whopping 18 years. Suddenly, I'm no longer going to hold that classification. I'll be facing the real world and trying to make my own mark on it. God willing the mark that I leave will have something to do with my writing. Only time will tell.