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Settling in for the Evening, Post-Graduation

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Well, now I'm officially a graduate of Clarion University. It hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm certainly working on it. For all their ups and downs, all the success and failure, all the triumph and the heartbreak, the joy and the sadness, to say nothing of the immense quantities of coffee and stacks of books, my five years working on my undergraduate degrees have revolutionized my life. To shamelessly quote Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," and while there were times that I was absolutely in despair, I kept going and pulled through. And it has been the most worthwhile experience of my life. I feel like my mind has been opened to all the possibilities of the world, an openness that definitely was not present during high school. That is, I suppose, the point of college, in a higher sense. Beyond the job qualification it provides, beyond the parties and the people you meet, beyond that is the realization that there is an entire world out there which one hasn't experienced yet. I owe a great debt to a number of fine people who have helped me come to that very realization, and I thank them. They know who they are.

In the meantime, I'm relaxing for the evening, because frankly I feel like it. Coffee is in front of me, with a good book to follow. Plus, Rhian Sheehan has released a new collection of music, called "Seven Tales of the North Wind," and many have already made their way to YouTube for my listening pleasure. This is one of my favorites, and I highly recommend it. Cheers, everyone.

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  1. DinoLuvrMay 7, 2011 at 5:46 PM

    As I said on facebook, of the many students I knew at Clarion, you derived more from your education than the great majority of them. For you it WAS an intellectual endeavor, and you demanded of it and yourself great standards of thought and analysis. It was an honor to have you as a student...and highly rewarding...and it is an honor to call you friend. Enjoy your summer, use it to truly set aside the burdens of the previous 5 years and prepare for another adventure, likely to be significantly different. You've achieved much, my friend...and that you should celebrate well.

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  2. Herla cyningMay 8, 2011 at 6:18 AM

    Huzzah!

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