My life in large-letter linen postcards
I found myself paging through THIS FLICKR POOL yesterday, when I suddenly realized that I kept stumbling upon large-letter postcards that revealed geographical locations bearing a lot of significance to me and my own biographical itinerary. So, I figured, hey, what the hell... I'll share with you.
So, here it is: my life map (so far) in postcards.
I was born and raised in a small suburb of...
When I was 5, my grandparents moved to...
... and we began to have annual family trips to Myrtle Beach during my sisters' and my spring breaks from school. But that only lasted a few years; my parents divorced when I was 9. Apparently my dad had established an affinity for the Carolinas because he ended up moving with my now-stepmom to...
...during my junior year of high school. They still live there. I've been going on solo trips to spend father/daughter bonding time the past few summers. They're never long enough.
The summer before my junior year of high school, I began checking out colleges. I looked at a couple of schools out near my aunt in...
... but ultimately I had my New England mind set on a small school in northern...
But, primarily for economic reasons, I ended up staying in Ohio for school. I ended up attending a small liberal arts school about 20 miles outside of...
That decision would end up being one of the major regrets of my life if it weren't for a couple of amazingly dear friends that I made during my Ohio college experience. Especially my dear "little brother," who, ironically, just so happens to be from Maine. And now we're practically neighbors. So...no regrets. But I still really kind of despised my college experience. Which is kind of funny considering that, you know, more than 10 years later and I'm still in freakin' college.
Anyway. Back to my journey. I spent a junior-year semester abroad in Paris, but I can't find any large-letter postcards for France. Totally rude. Méchant.
At some point during my senior year of college, I realized that graduate school would suit me much more than a job search. I mean, that's just common sense. But, I wasn't quite ready to decide between a Masters in English or a Masters in French, though. Stupid language conflicts. So, I decided to take a bit of time to consider my options. And to save a little money. I chose to move to one of the most expensive cities in the U.S....
Not exactly the first place one thinks of when considering destinations to allow for money-saving. But, I had a job lined up, and I was able to move in with my sister for a very small rent fee. My sister is awesome, by the way. We also worked together everyday: the job I had lined up was with her place of employment, which just so happened to be the greater Boston-area Girl Scout Council. My sister had a marketing/publication job there, and I joined on in an administrative position for the CEO. Throughout my 9 months working for the GS council, my job description seemed to add about 279.35 duties, including (among other things) resident camp registrations, mail delivery, bank visits, and responsibility for ALL OF THE FREAKIN' COOKIES ordered through Boston-area little girls. You know, because a degree in French and English Lit. totally prepares one for bookkeeping and cookie-monitoring. We were called the Boston-area "Cookie Cupboard." In reality, though, it was more of a Cookie Conference Room, stocked floor to ceiling with piles and piles of boxes of Thin Mints, Samoas, Do-Si-Dos, and other lesser-awesome cookies. So, that was fun. By the way, it's Girl Scout cookie time, everyone. FYI.
Anyway, it only took about 2.5 months of working a 9-to-5 job (and hossing cookies) to clarify my grad school ambitions: I chose French. But umm, I think you knew that. I spent the following summer in a Masters refresher, total immersion program at L'Ecole Française in Middlebury,
One of the best summers of my life. If not the best. I had been accepted to a Masters program at another university for which the first year would be spent in Tours, France. Again, no postcards for France. Stupid-heads. The second year of the program took me back to the States at a rather large university near...
Talk about culture shock. From the castle-strewn Loire Valley to the nondescript flatlands of northwestern Ohio. Thank dog it was only a year. During that year, I made the familiar decision that more schooling would be preferable to a job search: I would continue on and get my Ph.D. in French Lit. The jury remains out on whether or not this was the best or the worst decision of my life. Seriously, I'm not sure. I'll keep you posted. Anyway, my Masters school didn't have a Ph.D. program, so.... more applications. I was accepted to a couple of programs, which ultimately ended up equating to an unsavory decision between city and country, Boston and...
I decided to make a bold move and go West, where I'd never been and where I knew no one. A little adventure for me. I mean, I already knew Boston. Boston and I were tight. Boston would be too easy. Colorado, though... uncharted territory. Uncharted BEAUTIFUL territory. I figured the mountains would help me adapt to the whole "knowing no one" thing. So, I began a Ph.D. program out in the Rockies.
I lasted a semester. Disenchanted, disappointed, dejected, and certainly depressed, I quit the program and withdrew from the university. I spent the next semester (spring 2002) floundering, being a nomad, trying to figure out a new path. I ended up reinstating my acceptance to the Ph.D. program in...
And I've been there ever since. Friends and loved ones have come and gone. One of my dearest has gone on to a big-boy job all the way out in...
...and I miss him terribly. One of my best friends from childhood now lives on the West/Left/Wrong Coast, near...
... and she's going through a crappy, rough time right now, and I wish I had an actual job (and actual money) to go visit her. I miss her so much. Another of my best childhood friends lives a bit closer, near...
... and I generally get to see her every time I drive back to Ohio for the holidays (or for the hell of it). But it's never long enough.
Mostly I spend my time around New England, working (or trying to) and playing with my little niece and nephew over at my sister's (the Girl Scouts job was about 5 jobs ago, by the way. But the cookies are with us in spirit.).
I plan to graduate in May, FINALLY.
And then maybe I'll have another postcard for you. And maybe it will even be out of the...
**ALL POSTCARDS ABOVE BORROWED GRACIOUSLY FROM THE WONDERFULLY EXTENSIVE
LARGE-LETTER POSTCARDS FLICKR POOL.
January 3, 2011
Reader Comments (1)
Bittersweet :)
All the best in your plans to graduate in May!