Post-grad thoughts...

(Pre Script: please keep in mind that I graduated in May 2015... Even to this day it sometimes seems like I never even went to college. Maybe its because I now teach at my former high school, so that part of my life gets lost in my pre and post college life. Maybe its because I don't really talk to anyone I went to school with anymore... Whatever the reason, I still passionately believe that part of my identity will always belong to good ol' Conn Coll. I'm a Camel for life.)

This is a post from one of my favorite blogs, dripping with passion... I felt like Charity perfectly summed up how I felt about my college experience. The words in different colors represent my own thoughts. Even now, almost four years later, it still hasn't hit me that I'm a college graduate. I don't know if it ever will...

"I just finished the last of my schoolwork at Connecticut College. Yes, it is over. I am incapable of understanding or grasping this fact of life. My heart somehow won't let me. 

Wordsworth said that “there are some moments in time worth ages.” Today as I walked home from the library, I had one such age-worthy moments. Perfect swirling cherry blossoms danced around me as I slowly and carefully walked on the well-worn paths of my college experience, music in my ears, blood at the end of my veins, blushed cheeks and warm insides. This is my home, my soul sang. 

I am realizing, with joy, that it is exquisitely heart wrenching to leave this home. Conn is so weird and so wonderful. I have learned things here that I could have learned nowhere else. There was a part of me here even before I came after the hurricane almost four years ago. Despite all the hardship and the musings of regret that inundate my thoughts in these last days, I am proud to say that I think I have found that part of myself. And she’s beautiful. 

Even more than finding myself, I have figured out what kind of self I want to find and realized that I will be finding that self day by day forever… it doesn’t happen all at once. 

It’s the end of an era. At life-changing turns in life, we are always forced to wonder how we did. Was my Conn and college experience all it could be, all I could make it? No, not really at all. But I know it was spectacular in its own right, and I know that as I continue to grow up, I will see more and more clearly and eternally why I was here and what I have learned and what I have contributed. 

How did I get to this place in time? Yesterday I was crying my guts out because high school was over. Now, college?? James Taylor said, “the thing about time is that time isn’t really real.” Truth.

I happy to report that finals were enjoyable and satisfying. I learned a lot, I worked pretty hard, and then I handed it all in. It's over. And I feel at peace tonight in this little dorm room with my twinkle lights and my beating heart."

Why not start a blog your senior year? Because you'll never have time to do it.

Sooo about that whole blogging thing...

Yep, I officially suck at blogging. I managed two posts last year. Yay me. However, now that I have graduated from college and am technically unemployed, I have much more time to blog.

First, here's a little update about how the rest of senior year went... 

My fall classes turned out pretty well. It was definitely my hardest semester at Conn, but I made it through. I definitely attribute my success to taking the time to go to Institute on Wednesday nights. Even though I didn't really make it to church until the last few weeks of the semester, my burgeoning LDS faith was definitely something that gave me the strength to keep going.

Some other highlights included going to Vermont with my dad for Thanksgiving with my family, surprising my brother at the airport when he got home from Berlin, and going to the temple for the first time.

Here is a picture of two of my dear friends, Nathan and Austin, whom I met while going to Institute at the Coast Guard Academy. Austin was a senior like me and Nathan was a freshman. We got really close over the year and I miss them a lot. 

I was home for about five weeks between semesters and it was really nice. My brother didn't have to go back to Northeastern because he was doing his first co-op on the Cape. We were able to spend some time together, including going out on the Outer Beach to see the snowy owls, one of our new family traditions.

Here was my schedule for the spring:

Mondays: Spanish 494G - Spanglish as Identity 9:00-10:15 am - this was my senior Spanish seminar and at first I was extremely wary of the professor and the topic. There were only 9 people in the class and most of them had very strong opinions. However, I ended up really liking the professor and did enjoy some of the tough conversations. Plus I got an A, so that helped. 

Spanish 337 of Central America and the Caribbean 1:15-2:30 pm - This class was the absolute worst I have ever taken at Conn. Ironically, I thought I would really like the professor and the class. Wrong. She was so difficult to understand and set extremely unreasonable expectations. I ended up doing okay in the class, but it was still ridiculous. 

Tuesdays: Anthropology 232 - Violence and Human Trafficking in Latin America 9:00-10:15 am - I loved this class and the professor! I had never taken an anthro class before, but the subject was what i focused on in both my International Relations and Spanish majors. I did really well in the class and got a lot out of it. The professor had a great sense of humor and I really enjoyed her too. 

ELT 2:30-4:30pm. Once again I worked with the first graders. I kind of feel like this was the group that I connected least with though. Not sure why. 

IVCF 7-9pm.

Wednesdays: Spanish 494G 9:00-10:15am

Spanish 337 1:15-2:30pm

Institute 7:00-8:00 - this was my saving grace once again this semester. The one time I missed it, everything went wrong. It was such a testimony builder, even if I didn't really do all that I could on the other days of the week. 

Thursdays: Anthropology 232 9:00-10:15

ELT 2:30-4:30

Fridays:

OVCS office hours 8-10am, 2-4pm - again, waking up for work at 8am on a Friday was tough. But wait, I got to go home and sleep and then come back to work for the afternoon. 

Yeah, I was pretty busy. And it was wicked snowy. We missed 4 or 5 days of classes. Plus one day because we had a serious racist vandalism incident that had news crews on campus and all day workshops for every single student, staff, and faculty member. 

To be perfectly honestly, senior spring wasn't all I was hoping it would be. My friends and I had some problems. Senior week wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I didn't graduate with a job. They changed the requirements for the Latin honors so I didn't get anything. I did end up with department honors in Spanish, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining. But it was hard on so many levels. 

BUT anyways... I graduated on a hot, sunny day on Tempel Green with my fellow Class of 2015 Camels, some of my dearest friends and my crazy family. My cousin Jeremy graduated from UVM on the same day so that meant that my Aunt Moe couldn't be there, which was really hard, but our family friends the Faustinis came in her place, as well as my mentor and Institute teacher Sister Lahti and her husband Captain Lahti (who just so happens to be the C.O. of the Navy base next door). After the ceremony, I packed up the room that had been mine for three years, turned in my key, and left for the last time. Looking back, was my college experience all that it could have been? The best four years? No, not really at all. But I did it. And I'm proud of myself.  

These were some of my closest friends at school. I really only talk to two of them now because I absolutely suck at keeping in touch, but I really did love all of them. 



My institute teacher, Brother Lahti (aka Captain Lahti, C.O. of the NLNB) snapped this as I walked in. Probably my best photo from that day. I wish I could do that day over and dress better haha. 






The nicest picture we got all day, unfortunately. Mark was crying so much and that made me cry. He made this all possible and I don't know how I can ever repay him. 

So far I suck at this...

So, turns out senior year of college leaves very little time for blogging... Here's a little run down of my first month of school, now that we're in the third...

First, a little side note about my last post. That last week in August, my family and I drove over 1000 miles. It was a little crazy. Tuesday August 26th, Brandon and I went to Worcester to visit our mom. Then we drove back to the Cape. The next day, Wednesday the 27th, I drove 150 miles to school. Friday the 29th, I drove 150 miles back home. Sunday August 31st dad, Brandon and I drove 100 miles to Boston and dad and I drove 100 miles back. Then on Monday September 1st I drove 150 miles back to Conn.

Cape--Worcester--Cape--New London--Cape--Boston--Cape--New London 

That's what that week looked like. However, it was worth it to see all of my friends and family one last time before going off to school.

Now, back to September... The first few weeks of school were pretty chill, as to be expected. Except the temperature. It was wicked hot. There were tons of meetings and fairs to go to, CELS appointments to make, and books to order. However, I tried to enjoy it because I knew it would be the last time.

My schedule is pretty crazy, but that's how its always been since I can remember.

Mondays: Spanish 325 Foreign Language Methodology 9:00-10:15am - not a fan of this class at all.
Government 325 International Politics of the Middle East 10:25-11:40am - really interesting but hard.
Government 493Z Senior seminar on the Iraq War 1:15-2:30pm - also super interesting and challenging.

Tuesdays: Spanish 322 Spain in Search of its Identity 10:25-11:40am - LOVE this class, Spanish lit with my favorite professor.
ELT 2:30-4:30pm - Expanded Learning Time at Jennings Elementary, I teach 1st grade and consider jumping off a bridge probably every 2 minutes.
IVCF 7-9pm - I'm the president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. We host a weekly Bible study along with other events throughout the semester.

Wednesdays: Spanish 325 9:00-10:15am
Government 325 10:25-11:40am
Government 493Z Seminar 1:15-2:30pm
Institute 7-8pm - an LDS class I'm taking at the Coast Guard Academy, I'm loving it!

Thursdays: Spanish 322 10:25-11:40am
OVCS office hours 12-2pm - as well as doing ELT with OVCS, I also work in the office. I love those people.
ELT 2:30-4:30pm

Fridays: OVCS office hours 8-10am. Not going to lie, it is super hard to get up at 7:45am on a Friday. Lots of sweatpants wearing.

If you got through this and/or care, props for you. Now comes the good part, the pictures!

The first week back, Joan Rivers died. She went to Conn for a little, but didn't graduate. All the news crews in CT still thought it was important to come and film. 

This beautiful selfie was taken during a super long training session on a Saturday afternoon for student leaders. I as the IVCF president and Lulu as the ATBV treasurer had a super good time.

Usually there is a killer sunset every night. I've been working in my room and suddenly notice the sunset and run outside with my camera. 

My 8:00am mornings in OVCS call for pretty leaves and juice pouches. 

My friend Helaine left for Ireland for 10 months, so some of us got together at Patriot Place to send her off! Miss her! 

My Nauset/OYC friend Davis came to look at Conn and it was nice to show him around a bit. 

Typical me and Lulu selfie rushing to some event or another. 

Why not start a blog your senior year?

When I was a freshman in college I discovered the world of blogging, and I've been hooked ever since. However, while I created this blog many years ago, I never got around to actually blogging about anything... Even though I have a million and one things going on in my life right now because I'm a SENIOR IN COLLEGE (yeah, still freaking out about that a little on the inside...) I figured there's no better time than the present to start... Well, that and the fact that I am seriously procrastinating on a paper. But anyways...

So what does senior year at good ol' Conn Coll look like? Take a step inside my world...

I moved back into school on August 28th. Personally, I find going to school in AUGUST completely ridiculous, but this was the last time that will happen, so I guess I should get over it. My dad and I drove down that Tuesday, moved me in, I started to set up my room and finally saw my friends that I hadn't seen since the Class of 2014's GRADUATION in MAY. Yeah, I missed them. We were all abroad last semester too (Lulu was in Barcelona and Tina was in Washington D.C. I was in Sevilla, Spain for those of you new to my life) so we had been missing each other for a while. I wish I had a video of Tina jumping out of her car and running to give me a hug. They're the best!

I didn't have a picture from that night, so I stole one from Bettina. Here we are back together for the first time at graduation! 

(please excuse the blurry iPhone photos): Here are the beginning stages of my room... it took two weeks for me to finally get it all set up. 

I went to class on Thursday morning, tried setting up my room some more (its hard when it is a million degrees and you can basically drink the air because it is so humid) and then just relaxed with my homies. I don't have classes on Fridays and Conn decided to give us Labor Day off this year (how considerate) so I got up really early on Friday morning, drove two hours to the Cape and had breakfast with my best friends in the whole wide world, the Giggle Group. We went to the Hole in One (obviously) and celebrated 10 years of friendship, another amazing summer, and being SENIORS. Lindsey and Emily go to UMass, and Kaitlin goes to Providence College. Its an hour from PC to Conn, and two hours from Conn to UMass. You would think we see each other a decent amount, but unfortunately we don't. Hopefully we'll change that this year.

Em was rocking an awesome hairdo... 

Here's to 10 years as the Giggle Group! 

After breakfast, Kaitlin and Emily took my car so that they could go to the beach and I took Kaitlin's to go babysit. By now I forget this little munchkin's name, but he was honestly the easiest baby and so cute (and chubby)! After babysitting I went home and finished gathering gall my school stuff that I hadn't used in almost a year! Friday night my dad, brother and I went to the Ho for one last dinner together until December.

So cute! 

Saturday morning we had family breakfast. Brandon is studying abroad in Berlin for the semester, so it was nice to finally get to spend some time with him after we had all been working like crazy all summer. Afterwards he went to hang out with some of his friends and say goodbye and my dad and I went to the beach in the boat (it was a gorgeous weekend). Then I went to Lulu's house (she lives in Osterville and also came home for the weekend) for a Labor Day cookout!

His parting gift was that he got to drive the Porsche. It was terrifying. Just kidding... 

We went to the backroad local spots so Brandon to say goodbye to the beach for four months. 

Sunday morning we worked on getting Brandon all packed up and ready for Germany! We loaded up my car and started the trek to Boston. We made a quick stop at the fabulous, one-story Cape Cod Mall to buy jeans and then we really were on our way. I love going to Boston, even if it is just to visit my brother at Northeastern or drop him off at the airport. I was feeling pretty nostalgic because the last time I was there I had just gotten off a plane from Spain! We got to Logan wicked early, but hey that's better than being wicked late. We sat in a sketchy little airport cafe for a while after Brandon got checked in and waited for his roommate from Northeastern who is also an architecture major and who is also going to Berlin, Paul/Pablo/Pebbles. Soon it was time to say goodbye. It is so weird that he isn't here... Not that we talk or see each other a lot, but still... It's nice knowing that I could go see him in Boston any time, pick him up and go home for a weekend, or drive to Vermont for Thanksgiving together.

"Why are you taking pictures? Go away."

Caught by surprise. 

Typical. 

I was obviously very excited to take this picture. This is his excited face. 

Part of Team 32 Symphony does Berlin 2014. 

I made him take some pictures (he clearly loves that) and then it was time to go. We said our tearful goodbyes (on me and Mark's part) and left him in the somewhat-capable hands of Paul. My dad and I drove back to the Cape and went to the Ho for dinner (again, we basically live there). The next day I heard from him via Facebook that he had landed in Munich and was on his way to Berlin. Again, this brought back memories of me doing the same thing in Madrid on my way to Sevilla, asking him to tell Mom, Dad and Aunt Moe that I had made it safely. I miss him a lot, and I figure he misses me at least a little, but I know that he is having a good time and taking advantage of every second (he just spent the last week in London, Barcelona, and Rome while I was in downtown NewLo teaching first graders how not to eat a crayon).

Sunday night I met up with my OYC friends Rob and Michelle for one last summer get together. Michelle and I took sailing lessons together and Rob was an instructor. He's 26, she's 22, and I'm 21, but we always have a great time. Rob and his brother Mike (who had already gone back to MED SCHOOL) are honestly our big brothers (that we never wanted ;) ) and we love them. We went to Sundae School and said goodbye to some of our friends who work there and stayed on the patio until closing talking and being silly. Even though neither of them work at OYC anymore, we try to hang out as much as we can and its just not summer without them!

They clearly love me and my selfies. 

Summertime siblings :)

Monday morning I said goodbye to my dad (this is always a tearful goodbye) and my kitties and went back to college for real this time. I can't believe that was already a month and a half ago. CRAZY!

First day of senior year, last first day of school picture ever!

If you got through this post, snaps for you. Eventually I will catch up to the present, but for now I'll just wallow in the fact that this is now done and I really do have to write this paper...

Cheers to senior year!

Hi, I'm Alexis!

Welcome to my blog!    

     I'm a Cape Cod girl spending my college years at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut, pursuing dual degrees in International Relations and Spanish. I'm an avid sailor and water enthusiast, die hard Red Sox and Patriots fan, and follower of Christ. 
     Join me on my journey of getting an education at one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country and attempting to define myself along the way.