It dawned on me when I saw the course evaluation email in my
inbox that at long last we’ve reached the last full week of classes. I’m not
entirely sure how that happened; having a normal Spring Break for the first
time since high school makes the semester seem much shorter. I’m not
complaining, but the closer I edge to graduation, the more my anticipation of
summer is balanced by a hesitation to move one year closer to being done.
It’s not that I want to stay here forever, you understand.
But I haven’t yet reached that cusp of readiness where one feels confident
about taking the next step even while a little wistful. When I graduated high
school, I knew it was time to go. School-wise, I already had one foot out the
door. But I’m hesitant to leave the educational system altogether just yet.
Which is good, because I still have one more year to go.
After classes finish, there will still be reading period and
then finals, so this semester’s blog isn’t finished just yet. There will
probably be two more after this to wrap up and then recap the semester; I think
I’ve developed a great deal in the past few months. In an unprecedented turn of
events, for me at least, I still don’t know what I’m doing for the summer; the
Navy hasn’t told me when my cruise is, and everything else has to be fit around
that. Hopefully I’ll know soon and can give you a heads’ up.
So, what’s been happening? It’s been a busy week. The
highlight was probably the SECNAV’s visit to the Kennedy School, for which the
ROTC students who showed up had reserved seating close to the front. I couldn’t
sit in front in uniform and snap selfies with my phone, but we did get a
picture with him afterwards (thank you to the Navy photographer). He’s a
Harvard alumni and spoke about Harvard’s relationship and the Navy, and there
were questions afterwards, several of which were asked by our own MIDN.
The craziest day of the week was Friday; I spent it running
all over Boston. I’ll spare you the details; just account for Murphy’s Law
along the way. After class at MIT, I dropped my books back at Harvard before
taking a taxi into Boston to get my military ID and then walking/taking a train
back to Harvard. I had a quick lunch and then hopped in my Zipcar to head to
ROTC Change of Command practice at BU. I had never actually driven in Boston
proper before, and it was quite an experience, but I got there and back safely.
There was a good deal of hassle in between, but I won’t go into it; I’ll just
say I felt very accomplished at the end of the day.
Other important events of the week: it ostensibly got up
into the 70s, not counting wind chill, in temperature yesterday, which was a
first. It’s strange thinking that it’s almost summer when everyone’s still busy
hoping it will soon be spring. On Sunday I went to another ROTC meeting and
then helped out with Christian Impact at the pre-frosh* activities fair. We did
our best to answer questions and tell them about the activities they were
invited to before they headed on to their next stop.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, while trying to figure
out what style to update my wardrobe into, I finally gave in and made a
Pinterest account, which turns out to be an excellent way to relax browsing the
internet without getting caught up in Netflix. Perhaps the best part of this
discovery was being able to put a name to the furniture I picture in my future
house. Instead of saying “kind of elvish-looking…” I can say “art nouveau.”
I don't think I’m a usual home planner. Most of the people
on Pinterest seem to use furniture boards to daydream; I use them to plan. I’m not
planning on implementing these plans for another decade or so, but hopefully I’ll
have figured out a way by then to afford all of this. We’ll see what happens –
for now, it’s probably best to just focus on the end of the semester.
*Students who've been accepted into Harvard but have not yet responded or enrolled.
Pictures: the trees are a little hesitant about budding, and I can hardly blame them. The last few times they've tried, it's snowed.
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