Heading back to Vermont in t-minus 11 days.
The melting pot of emotions that has settled in my gut has not become any less complex. I still feel the same fears, desires, and moods that I have for the past six months, but it seems the positive and engaging ones have solidified and intensified, and despite the worries I still harbor, the positivity is all that I could ever ask for.
I am excited about my classes next term. The one that I am probably most nervous about is Color Photography because as I have learned through my relief printing class last semester, art at Bennington can be very serious even in the classes categorized as "Beginner". I need to learn to capture an idea and convey it, convince others that it's there and present in my work. Nevertheless, photography, though once a major interest of mine, is not a serious course of study for me. If anything, it will be a lifelong hobby, but it's not what makes my heart beat fast.
Comparing Political Institutions
I am not passionate about politics whatsoever. But I would like to know what the hell everyone is talking about when they're knockin Communism and defending Capitalism and I also want to know more about other countries and what system of "power" they work within. In the long run, I feel like this type of information can be beneficial to me as I try to expand my studies to worldwide, foreign and local behaviors, cultures, and religions. As a matter of fact, in some countries, politics is their religion (or the other way around).
An Environmental History of Food and Farming
Yes, yes, and yes. I love environment. I love history. And I love food (and farming too!). I want to learn more about all of these things and discuss more (anthropologically speaking) about the values of our country in particular and the Agrarian myth that the country was in a way built off of. Hopefully this course talks about the history of food/farming all over the world as well; that will be even more interesting.
Recent Fiction from India and Pakistan
Picking up where my high school independent study course left off, I picked this literature course so I could have a fix of fiction, something to engage my mind in a more imaginative sense. I also want to practice my writing, reading, and discussing skills as they have clearly dwindled and dulled since high school.
And so those are my classes. Photo's quite expensive.
Life as of now: still living in NH, all by my lonesome, except, that's not true because Jake is pretty much always here. It's like the ittiest bittiest role play of what it would really be like to live together. Honestly, we fit together pretty well. I already partly knew this since in high school we used to spend days and nights together, sometimes a week straight, so practically living together now didn't feel all too different. The only big difference was that we were alone which was nice and that we would do more chores and shopping together. Things are actually significantly better between us when we are together. But seeing as how I will be traveling back and forth between Maine and Vermont and my various internships, we are working on keeping communication clear and also reemphasizing that everytime I leave goodbyes should be getting EASIER not HARDER and that the best thing to do is accept, trust, and communicate.
I was lucky enough to encounter such kind souls here who offered housesitting and petsitting jobs to provide some sort of income since I've been "out of the job" since November. It's hard keeping the money flow going while constantly moving back and forth. This is when I envy those who go to school where they live. At least they don't have to worry about constantly finding jobs.
My plan for the upcoming year: work on getting a license and or car during the summer and the winter. If I am able to intern here again next year, I will request that I intern in the summer so that I can have seven extra weeks to work on my license back at home and to also hopefully make some money. Unfortunately, it's a nasty little trap not having a license or a job because a license would greatly lessen the difficulty of getting a job while at home. But without it, transportation is the #1 obstacle standing in my way.
Today. Work til five. Go home and deep clean my apartment. Making more delicious soup from scratch. Watching a movie. Sleeping for life. Tomorrow I'm showing my apartment to a neighbor whose kitty (Vanilla) I will be watching for a few days. Then Flare Friday. Then Saturday I get Vanilla. Jake and I are intending to spend the weekend together seeing as how it's my last weekend before school. Life moves so damn fast sometimes.