I am officially done with college. Well, that might not be true. I could end up going back for my Masters. Still, I'm done with my undergrad, which should feel like more of a big deal. Instead, I just feel kind of aimless. For the past seventeen years I've had a purpose: Do well in school. I wouldn't say I was the shining example of a star student, but I did pretty well. I got decent grades, I didn't piss off any teachers (at least, not that I know of), I even excelled in a couple subjects. I was a student from the age of five to the age of twenty-two, and I was good at it.
Now I'm moving back in with my parents. Don't get me wrong-I'm not upset about that. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and not having to worry about rent or tuition. It just feels like I'm taking one giant step backward; I'm going to be living at home, not going to school, unemployed (as of right now). It feels weird, and until I have a job I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. That's why I'm making this list.
1. GET A JOB
Ideally, I will work somewhere where I can apply my skills as an English and/or Spanish major, but I'm starting to get nervous that I won't find anything and will resort to applying to McDonalds or TJ Maxx-anywhere that will offer me some form of monetary compensation so I don't have to mooch off of my parents. Okay, maybe I'm not THAT desperate, but I'm not going to be picky either. I want to be employed. I want to be able to pay for things without relying on my parents.
2. START WRITING SOMETHING TO BE PUBLISHED
I want to focus on a specific project. I don't know if it will be a collection of short stories or an actual novel, but I want to write something that might actually go somewhere-not just fun scribbling or poetry posted on deviantart, but something that I would actually try to get published.
3. PRACTICE MY SPANISH
I haven't taken a Spanish class in over a year and I can already tell that I'm pretty rusty. I will write in Spanish, talk with my Spanish major friends, watch Univision-anything to keep Spanish in my life (assuming I don't find a job where I use it regularly).
4. START LEARNING ITALIAN
I tried to do this in high school but always got distracted. Now though, I'll have a good amount of free time to focus on the language. I know it's kind of impractical, but being able to say I'm fluent in three languages would still look good on a resume, and it would be cool to go back to Italy and actually be able to respond in Italian when someone asks me something. I used to have an Italian grammar book that I threw out last year because I only did two or three exercises in the five years I owned it, and now I'm kicking myself for not keeping it. Oh, well. I'm pretty sure I can find something online.
5. COOK
If I'm going to be living at home, I should at least contribute something (although I think my mom will just be happy if I keep my room somewhat tidy). I also feel like I should practice cooking more, since I didn't really do that while I was in school. I made Dad's tomato spaghetti soup once, but otherwise pretty much everything I made was microwaveable. It's just no fun cooking for yourself, so I figure I can try out new recipes on Mom and Dad. Maybe I can make dinner a few times a week or something.
6. EXPLORE THE CITIES
Considering I've lived so close to St. Paul and Minneapolis all my life, I've never really taken advantage of everything they have to offer. I want to go to plays and concerts and galleries and find cute little stores and restaurants and bars. If I do end up living downtown it would be nice to be familiar with the area.
7. EXERCISE MORE
I didn't really work out much while I was in school. I walked everywhere, which kept me at least somewhat active, but Winona is a very walk-able city. Eagan is not. I want so badly to keep off the weight I lost in Spain (and lose some more) so I'm going to really have to discipline myself once I'm home.
Ugh. I hate ending lists on odd numbers, but I really can't think of anything else right now. I'll try to update this blog more than I have my other ones, although I don't know that anyone will actually read this. It might just end up being my own personal journal, floating around the Internet.
