Fresh Perspectives

It’s hard to believe that this time just one year ago I was just about ready to walk across that graduation stage.  To all of you high school seniors out there, let me give you the most important advice I wish I’d have known for the big day…..MAKE SURE YOUR CAP FITS. 

So, I realize senior year is stressful enough……applying to colleges, AP exams, and worst of all - trying to fight off that senioritis that infects us all.  But on top of that, seniors have so much other stuff to worry about relating to graduation.  Invitations, caps and gowns, and so on – you have to stay on top of things and constantly meet deadlines.

Well, I was doing pretty well my senior year.  When cap and gown sizing came around a few weeks before Christmas break, I went on my designated day and picked up the order form like I was supposed to.  I chose the appropriate gown size and measured my head for the cap, and then turned the form back in before the due date.  Well…April came around and it was time to pick up our beloved cap and gown.  I wasn’t really in a hurry to try them on since Graduation wasn’t for another month, so I waited until about twenty minutes before I left the house for the actual Graduation to put them on. (Mistake #1)  What do ya know…my cap is way too small!  I’m not talking about just a little snug – it didn’t fit…period.  I don’t know if my head miraculously grew a few inches in those last months or if I just measured wrong but regardless, like any normal girl I start freaking out.  I decide to try to cut slits in both sides where the cap pulls down over your head. (Mistake #2)  So after putting away the scissors I hold my breath and try the cap on – this time, it at least fits on my head but falls off with the slightest move.  So I hurriedly threw some bobby pins in my hair, connecting to the cap, hoping it’d stay on.

I luckily got to Graduation with no huge catastrophes.  I sat on stage during the ceremony.  The opening procession went fine, but the real trouble began during the prayer.  As I bowed to pray, my cap slid backwards and was on the verge of falling off.  So, when everyone else looked back up, I had to pretty much stay bowed or else my cap would have fallen to the row behind me and caused a huge distraction.  So anyway, the first third of my graduation I watched with my head facing downward. (Bummer, huh?)

The time came when my row was supposed to stand up in order to walk across stage and receive our diplomas.  I used this as a chance to straighten my hat so that I could at least look up.  However, I was still forced to keep my head perfectly still.  I’m sure I looked like a Barbie doll when I shook hands with the principal.  (Either that or a broken neck patient.)  Instead of just turning my head a certain way, I had to twist my whole upper body, which I’m sure made me look pretty ridiculous. 

After it was all said and done, I was definitely ready to get out of there.  What do you know…the first thing I did when Graduation was over was take off that stupid cap!  To this day I look at that thing and laugh just remembering all the trouble it caused me.

So, seniors…..you’ve made it!  It’s finally time to graduate.  Hopefully my disastrous cap story will remind you to make sure it fits before walking across that stage!  CONGRADULATIONS!

Posted by Kendall at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So college is great and all....but you know what they say:  with freedom comes responsibility.  And working for the summer is apparently all part of this growing up thing!  No longer can we sleep half the day and play the rest.  We miss the 2 hours of Dawson's Creek every morning (go on...admit it...we're all guilty of sitting in front of the TV growing emotionally attached to the lives of Joey Potter and Dawson Leery).  And worst of all....we're now forced to enter the world of taxes, bosses, and time cards.

Most of my friends have been scrambling around for the past 2 weeks in search of a summer job.  I, on the other hand, have been working at the same law firm for 9 months now and will continue slaving here until August.  (I'm only kidding about the slaving part.)  But I am going to have to do my best to positively describe this experience.  Let's see....I've learned how to use a phone with about 100 different buttons, I know where all the courts and government buildings are in the area, and best of all I now know I DO NOT want to work in a law firm ever again. 

So, needless to say, if any of you seniors out there are getting one last free summer, enjoy it while you can!!!

Posted by Kendall at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ahh, summertime is finally here, and while most college kids begin their summers with a trip to the beach or a big reunion with their high school friends, I decide to 'cut' to the chase (no pun intended) and have a much needed and overdue tonsilectomy 2 days after my last exam.

Here...I'll start from the beginning.  Over the past 5 years or so, I've had tonsilitis probably 4 or 5 times a year, mostly during winter, but occasionally during one of the other seasons as well.  My tonsils swell up to where there's almost no air passage through my mouth and basically they just make my life miserable for about a week.  Time after time, I'd visit the doctor, and time after time I'd get the same antibiotic.  Finally, over this past Christmas break, I had tonsilitis and step throat all within a 2 week period and decided this just couldn't happen anymore.  It took some persuading, but finally I convinced the doctor to remove them once and for all.  (He said that usually the procedure is more complicated the older the patient is, but I didn't care at this point).  So, we set the surgery date for right after my last exam!

The next few months passed without too much thought about getting my tonsils taken out.  I finished up the semester and all that jazz.  Then about a week or so ago, I began really thinking about what was going to happen:  I was going to be put to sleep and someone was going to cut a part of my body out of my mouth.  Yeah...I basically started to freak out!  I went online and researched the different methods they use for a tonsilectomy including all of the instruments and cautionary procedures.  My advice: don't ever research too closely the kind of surgery you'll be getting.  Bad idea on my part, especially when I found out that 1 in every 16,000 people die from a tonsilectomy.

Anyway, the morning of the surgery came.  I got throught it without any major problems.  Cried a little, slept a lot, and now I'm in the recovery process.  I've watched more movies in the past 3 days than I have in the past 6 months.  Here are my reviews:
 
-Because I Said So:  great mother/daughter comedy (4 stars)
-Catch and Release: decent chick flick, but nothing great (2 stars)
-The Last King of Scotland: must see historical fiction movie (5 stars) 
-Deja Vu: I've seen better Denzel Washington movies (3 stars)
-Children of Men: still don't know what happened in that movie (1 star)
-Candy: depressing, but Heath Ledger is still hott (2.5 stars)
-The Holiday: SO CUTE, even guys should see this one (5 stars)

So besides movies and books, I haven't really had much of a summer yet.  It hurts to use my mouth in any way, so my mom's done a good job of picking up on my sign language.  I'm already sick of applesauce and pudding.  (Yes, I know, the vanilla pudding snack packs are so 2nd grade, but hey...it's about all I can eat.)  Hopefully after another week or so of recovery, I'll be back to normal.  The first thing I'm going to do when my tonsils (or lack thereof) are all better....is scream at the top of my lungs! (And then eat...a lot!)

Posted by Kendall at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I absolutely cannot believe I'm one-fourth of the way through college.  Well, almost.  I have one more exam tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock. Most people begin to freak out around this time of year when the word exam starts popping up, but if you've gone to class and done well so far, exam week can actually be less stressful than usual.  Exams are spaced out so that you have plenty of time to study and the library is open 24 hours a day for some assured peace and quiet.  And for the most part, professors are pretty straight-forward about what you need to know.  So, in my opinion, exams really aren't all that bad! (I do realize I'm saying this after my tougher ones are over!) Wow...one more and my freshman year at USC is over! It's hard to believe, huh?

This past weekend, I spent a lot of time with my closest friends, one of which will be moving back home to Virginia on Wednesday.  It's hard to describe the emotions I'm feeling right now.  About a month ago, I thought, "Ahhh, just get me to summer."  But honestly, now that it's finally here, I'm definitely not ready for it.  I've already had to say goodbye to a bunch of the people on my hall, and since I'll be in Hawaii next year for school....it really is goodbye!  It's scary to think I may never see some of my 'Capstone neighbors' EVER again.  I mean, who knows what could happen in a year, right?!

Don't get me wrong when I say these next few things, because I truly have enjoyed this past year...but anything can get old.  For example, by Spring Break, I think everyone's sick of living in a cooped up dorm room and most of us are tired of eating the same food on campus every day.  But you know what?  I'd give anything to have another few months of loft beds, RA's, breakfast buffets, and Russell House food.  I think most endings are bittersweet, but this one is for sure! 

But hey, every cloud has a silver lining!  I'll definitely get to visit some of my new friends this summer and even though I'll be missing out on a few things next year, I really can't complain at all.  I'll be surfing, laying out, and hula dancing (ha!)....all on the sweet shores of HAWAII! (Jealous yet?)

Posted by Kendall at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)