Bachelor Degree Almost in My Hands

I picked up my graduation cap today, talk about being overwhelmed with emotions.  I don't want to leave this campus.  Returning to classes in the fall never made me mad, I was always excited to get back to school because I absolutely love this campus.  I love the faculty and staff, the activities, and my friends.  It sounds so cheesy, but it's absolutely true. 

This is why I talk about this campus so much, I take pride in it.  Yes we may be a branch campus and yes I may be missing out on some big school experiences but I wouldn't have done a single thing different.  I've been giving tours for over 2 years now, and I still volunteer to do every one that I can. I feel like if I can influence one person and make them understand how much I love this campus then that'll be the best thing! 

Picking up my graduation cap and gown kind of made me realize that it is real, that in less than 3 weeks I will have this cap and gown on and walk across the stage.  I will pose for pictures and wake up the following morning as a Pennsylvania State University graduate. 

The Business Club put together a trip for us students to go New York and it only cost us $25 each!  $25 doesn't even fill up my gas tank half way so of course I totally took advantage of the opportunity to go to New York for the day! I've never been to New York so I had no idea what to do or where to go or what to see.  It was a little overwhelming because I wanted to see and take advantage of everything; one day is not enough in a city that large. 

First we went to The World Trade Center memorial, well that was 4 hours of our day but it was worth every minute.  It was kind of emotional standing next to where the old building was, people died right there.  Right where I was standing this building collapsed and families were destroyed.  The monuments had the names of the people who passed away carved into it, the most emotional was one that had the mothers first and last name and her unborn child. 

Next we walked to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty, which was so cool!  I see it all the time on TV shows and movies but I never thought I would be able to see it in person.  We didn't ride the ferry over to Ellis Island because that would've been another 4 hours. 

Then we went and wondered around Little Italy where we ate a super expensive/delicious restaurant.   We walked to China Town where we haggled with the local people to get the best price on a bunch of stuff I didn't need such as perfume, sunglasses, scarves, and purses. 

Then the fun begun, we went to get on the metro to go to Central Park and we ended up in downtown Brooklyn.  I was a little confused when we crossed over a river; all I can say is that the metro system wasn't the easiest to figure out.  So after a 3 hour detour to downtown Brooklyn, we decided to skip Grand Central Park and go to Times Square. 

Times Square was in itself a trip.  Too many people for me, I mean it was nonstop! Random people on the street working out that where selling half naked pictures of themselves.  The naked cowboy, well actually we saw 2 different naked cowboys so that was interesting.  We shopped in a 5 story Toys 'R Us that had a ferris wheel in it.  Times Square was just as bright and as overwhelming as it seems in all the movies and TV shows!

Overall it was super fun, my knee was really swollen by mid afternoon so that kind of slowed us down a little bit, but the best news is that we're taking another trip next week.  The Beav is traveling to Chicago!

Today was my first day back for class since I missed last week because of my knee procedure.  I'm off of crutches but still hobbling a little bit.  Me hobbling around campus is nothing strange, I've had 3 knee surgeries during my time on this campus.  The crazy thing is I still swear that all the pain is worth what my team was able to accomplish. 

I had 75 wins in 3 years and only 18 losses in my career.  I started every game except for my very first one of my freshman year.  I only lost 1 home game, that's what I call that defending home court.  I would've loved to play my senior year but my last ACL surgery was really rough to say the least.  They shaved down a lot of my bone so the risk of me breaking my leg was drastically increased.

When Coach Bert DeSalvo recruited me he told me he could do 3 things for me, "I'll make you a better player, a better person, and I'll make sure you graduate."  I can say that with my time at Penn State Beaver coming to a close he fulfilled each and every part of that statement.   

Coach DeSalvo is now an assistant coach at Clairon University, but you better believe he'll be one of the first people I hug after I walk across the stage and get my degree.

I'm jobless, on crutches, and I also no longer have a screw in my left knee.  On the positive note, I graduate in exactly 1 month. 

The fact that I am this close to graduating is scary, yet exciting.  I have grown up in this area.  I went to school for 7 years at Center, I worked in the local Famous Footwear for 4 years, I've coached pretty much every summer camp that this county offers.  I have a lot of connections but now it is on me how I will use them.  I refuse to settle, I want to use my degree!

I don't really know what to do with myself.  I'm very motivated but I understand that I need time to heal.  I've actually been reading the Hunger Games series, playing Draw Something on my iPhone, and napping!  I spent most of my sophomore year conducting research on naps.  So anytime that I nap, I can say I do it because all of my research points to naps being good for you! 

On a side note, I'm still a little bit bitter that I lost in the research fair to someone who clipped samples off of bat wings and compared them to samples in a different state and found the differences in the diet of the bat.  The crowd liked my presentation better, but really how are naps supposed to compete with bats?

My hours at my internship/job have been completed for awhile, but since I was hired as an employee I decided to stick it out and work there for awhile.  Well, that time is almost over.  I'm having a simple knee procedure done on April 3^rd, and since I'll be on crutches and all I don't think restraining kids would be the best idea.  It's a little bit ironic that my last day will be April Fool's day but that's okay. 

I'm nervous, and that's kind of scary because I typically don't get nervous.  I'm not nervous about the knee procedure, I'm nervous about the being jobless for the first time since I was 12.  I've been working camps, or mowing lawns, shoveling snow, doing anything to make a dollar since I was 12! But in 3 days I will be jobless.  I might actually have time to relax?  Maybe I'll take my dogs to the park? Maybe I'll go to one of my sister's track meets? Maybe I'll actually see my old teammates!? 

Wait, there's the other side of it, where will I work?  I'm graduating in a month! I hope I can actually get a job that requires a degree and that pays well locally.  Is that a lot to ask? I'm 22 years old and about to have this amazing Penn State degree, but what will I do with it!?

Today is Tuesday, which means I actually had class.  Being that I'm an old head senior and half my credits this semester are my internship, I only have classes two days a week.  My classes today were actually kind of fun, I learned about the different ways to interpret communication by reading body signals and also I made some abstract art plaster carving that I am actually pretty pleased with.  I'm not the most artistic person; I prefer the whole athletic route. 

This is my third art class since I've been at The Beav, first it was drawing then painting and now sculpting. I can't tell you how nice it is to get credits for being in art class! There are never any research papers due.  I never have to write in-depth articles on how this will affect the culture or anything along those lines.  As long as you attend class and try on every project your grade should be fairly good.  Plus it's relaxing; it's nice to be able to take a break from citing research or developing thesis statements.

With as busy as I am, if there is a chance to relax I'm all over it!

Part one of my day is the campus part.  In a short amount of time there will be a group of advisory board members on campus, this is another oppurtunity to tell someone my story.  I enjoy events like this because I can honestly say that my choice of Penn State Beaver was the right one! If I can make one person understand how much I enjoy my time here then this busy day will be worth it.  I've been on this campus now for 4 years, I've worked 3 campus jobs, been involved in multiple clubs, and been apart of a championship basketball legacy.  I have a lot of positive things to say about this campus, so I'll talk to anyone that will listen!

Part two of my day is my internship/job part.  My internship is at a place called The Bradley Center, this is a residential treatment facility in Robinson Twp.  The residents live there, they go to school, eat, shower, sleep, they do it all in this building.  Some of the residents are there because they were neglected, or maybe physically or mentally abused.  It is a very interesting internship/job to say the least, there are days I enjoy it but to be honest those days are few and far between.  I typically work 16 hour days because the facility is 1 hour away from my house but today, because of the event, I only work 8 hours. 

Part three of my day is the student part.  I have 2 exams coming up next week, and as a senior my GPA is still important so I have some studying to do.  I will be going to graduate school sometime in the near future and they have requirements you need to meet so there is no time to slack off!