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I didn't attend the Phi Kappa Phi induction ceremony last week, because I was tired and didn't feel like making the kids go to two ceremonies, and I just really wasn't sure I wanted to sit through a long ceremony and I didn't know how it was going to be. I still get my pin and certificate though. And as tomorrow's date got closer I started not really wanting to attend that one either. Seriously, why do we go to these ceremonies? Because our parents are proud of us and they want to see us getting our awards. Teenagers, though they may be proud of me in their own way, don't really care about sitting through a long ceremony that they don't really understand. I was given two invitations to give to the two professors that had the greatest impact on my education and success. I gave one to the first professor I had at SJSU, Professor C, the one who was incredibly scary but who I ended up having a fantastic relationship with. The other I gave to my Shakespeare professor, Professor E, she's my Spenser professor this semester. I love her to death, and respect them both to an amazing degree. After class today I went to Professor E and asked if she had been to one of these ceremonies before, and were they long and boring. She said she had attended them before, and laughed and asked if I was wondering if I should bring my daughter (who she has met a couple times). I told her I was pretty much making them both go, but I just didn't know what to expect. She got really serious then and said, "Pischina, it's a real honor, and you should be proud of yourself. I mean, really, you should be very proud of yourself. Actually, it's a really nice ceremony, they make a big deal out of things, and I think you'll like it." I told her that I actually was pretty proud of myself, I just didn't know what to expect. She smiled at me again and told me she would see me tomorrow. So then I drove home and thought about what my mom and dad would think about all the things that have been going on in school lately. Phi Kappa Phi, Deans Scholar, permission to take a graduate class for graduate credit next semester. And my last paper was given an A and called "quite a tour de force", which is also pretty amazing. I graduate next semester, and then only have two more years of graduate school. My mom would be SOOOOOOOOO proud, I don't even know how to tell you how proud she would be. And when I opened up my thoughts and really imagined what she would think and say about all this, I just started crying in the car, because I know she would be so incredibly proud of me but she can't come to my awards ceremony and I can't even call her and tell her. She would have wanted to know all of this, and she's missing it. And that makes me so sad. It really does. ***** On a lighter note, my Spanish classmates are trying to convince me to minor in Spanish so that I will be in class with them next semester. They said I am the glue that holds our group together. They are going to be unsuccessful in their convincing though because I am over and done with Spanish and cannot wait to take my final so I can be completely finished with that whole thing. I love my classmates, and I will miss them, but I am not minoring in Spanish and I am not taking any more Spanish classes. I do have fun in that class though. I sit on the far side with the group of kids that have gone through the same Spanish classes with me. We call ourselves "Kelly's Kids" because that was the name of one of our past professors. We generally goof off and speak English and make fun of each other throughout the entire class, earning many "HABLA EN ESPANOL!!!" and "SHHH!" from the professor. She probably hates us to be honest, heh, and Professor Kelly would have shut us the hell up, that's for sure. But we do have fun, and we all get A's - I just get higher percentages then they do. They hate that. I skip about a third of the classes and NEVER speak in Spanish, and I happen to be the only "white girl" of the group. So the kids who have always spoken or at least heard Spanish at home want to know how the HELL I manage to get higher grades than they do. It appears that their goal in life is to one day get a higher grade than me. It won't happen. heh. ***** Scholarship winners have not been announced yet. I entered essays for two other scholarships but I think those are a long shot. The professor in charge of the medieval lit scholarships let my Chaucer class know that NO ONE had entered an essay so she was extending the deadline. I had not entered anything because the requirement was 12-20 pages, and I cannot do a 20 page medieval lit essay in two weeks while doing my class essays too. But she was lowering her requirements so that the scholarship could be given away, so I entered two shorter essays. Each of those scholarships is $500. Hopefully I'm the only one to enter, heh. The Shakespeare scholarship is $1500. My summer tuition was almost $1200 for one class, so hopefully I win some scholarships. I don't want to start my post-graduate life completely broke. ***** I got some paperwork in the mail today from Spike's high school. It starts out saying "Your child has a strong chance of graduating this year." That cracked me up. What kind of announcement letter is that? Actually, it's a pretty accurate one. "A strong chance" is exactly how I would describe Spike's graduation status. He's working his butt off to get things done though and hopefully will make it to graduation next month, and he also has close to 15 college credits already under his belt. Buffy? She's grounded. She's better off that way, so I think I'll keep her grounded until she's 18. But she's a happy child and we've been going to the gym together and generally we have a pretty fun time with each other. ***** So ends the semester-end essay-procrastination entry for Spring semester.
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