Monday, June 30, 2014

So the days float through my eyes

So I really should be better at this by this point. It's not that I've been insanely busy, this blog just sometimes happens to slip my mind. Well, anyway.

So I am officially a college graduate! I have graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama and made Dean's list for my last semester of undergrad. It still is so strange to have actually graduated from college. I remember being six years old and would beg my parents to tell me what high school was like (that mythical place where math was not required) and was convinced that I would never make it to high school. The fact that I have graduated college is insane to me. It was a fun event, which I was not expecting with all of my pre-grad jitters.

Obviously, I had to finish classes and all before I could get to this point, so now we are going into flashback mode. The last week of classes was such a strange time for me because I finally realized that my time at CUA was coming to an end.  While trying to finish up all of my papers and work on Gilbies (our end of the year awards show for CUA Drama which the seniors are in charge of), I was as usual overwhelmed. I still managed to have some fun in there but I managed to finish everything. I even managed to get an A in my Landscape Archeology class which I did no reading for the entire semester. I did very well this last semester which I think is how one would want to end their time in college. My final assignment of college was a paper for one of my drama classes and I've decided to show you all the "final paper selfie" that I took (If you can't see the title, it says "The Theatre of Cruelty: Julie Taymor's Titus", yeah really happy subject):


And that was that, Undergrad was over! Then we had Senior Week, which was a strange journey both through elementary school (we were taking yellow school buses everywhere) and college. I tried to spend as much time with all of my different friends as I could, which was difficult because everyone was everywhere. The events we had were going to Dave and Busters in an abandoned mall (I'm not kidding, windows were boarded up and everything, super creepy) and and Orioles Game which was my first time out to Baltimore (I ended up on the Jumbo-tron, though I really was not watching the game). Then we had a casino night on campus which luckily taught me that I will never cause my family any strife from gambling debt because I'm terrible at it and get board of it easily. This was kind of a weird event because after all of the off-campus events, we were back in our student center which felt like a step back. Then the next night we had a dinner at the Sequoia in Georgetown which had the most gorgeous views of the Kennedy Center and the Potomac but was also a strange event (I've learned that school sanctioned events are never what one hopes for). Then Tursday there were no events but I went out and celebrated my friend Cait's birthday. We went to a bar in Adams Morgan and did karaoke and I finally was able to do "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as my song. Then the next day my family arrived in town for the big weekend!

A lot of my family in California flew out for the event which made the whole thing quite exciting. On Friday was the Baccalaureate Mass in the Basilica which was the first time I have gone to church in a long time. The church was packed full of people there to see their kids graduate (Or a step in the graduation process). I sat next to Christian, who had been in London with me, and we had a great time being ridiculous in the mass. Then, after the mass, my family and I went to dinner and hung out before the big day.

Saturday morning was the big graduation day. I had to get in line to process super early and waited around for awhile before we even went in. I was surrounded by people I had never met in my entire time at Catholic and still had a blast make jokes with all of these people. Phillip Rivers was our commencement speaker plus the most adorable cardinal from Manilla. The big main ceremony was long but my section of the students had a good time. Then, when the big ceremony was over, Arts and Sciences stayed in the same spot and had our ceremony with diplomas being handed out. My good friend and fellow drama major Bridget Grace Sheaff was our Arts and Sciences speaker and she did quite a good job.  Then we were given our diplomas which is when I realized a new irrational fear I could have, worrying if anyone would clap or cheer for me while I got my diploma. Luckily, this fear was irrational and I got my diploma without falling over, though I did forgot the slip that had my name on it, pissing off the woman gathering them. Then the ceremony was over and there was a small reception in the drama department. Then I moved out of my dorm in record time and was done with Catholic forever! Then we had the best graduation dinner ever at Oyamel, Jose Andres modern Mexican restaurant in DC. We literally ordered everything on the menu (clearly food was the most important part of the event). While at dinner, we had the watch the Preakness because California Chrome was slated to win, which he did. Then we drove out to Easton Maryland where I fell asleep in the car after all of the excitement. Then we spent the next few days out in Easton which was nice to have a break even for only a few days. The weather was obviously so much nicer this time around then it was at Thanksgiving.





Then I returned to DC and moved into the sweetest place ever. A few weeks before graduation when I was in the throws of trying to find a place to live, we found out that our good friends from Tokyo and Singapore had just bought a condo in DC. They offered for me to live here this summer before I went to London in July (Right, I'm going to RADA for a month to study Shakespeare, so damn excited). It was so nice of them to offer and this apartment is amazing. I'm currently working at Ford's Theatre in their box office and at a vintage store called Meeps. Both jobs are fun and have their ups and downs.

I was lucky enough to get to go to the Ford's Theatre Gala which was this VIP event where even the Vice Preisdent was there! I wore my grandma's dress from the 1950s, my 1950s prom shoes and vintage jewerely, also 1950s. I got my hair professionally done and did my makeup all by myself and it turned out really well. I've included a picture below so you could see what I mean.

I was very excited that I got to go to this event especially because I will not be able to go next year because, drum roll please...............................................
.........................
........
....
I'm moving to Atlanta to do an Acting Apprenticeship with Horizon Theatre Company! It's ten months long from September through June 2015. I'm so excited about this opportunity but also nervous about finding a job and a place to live because I know nothing about Atlanta. So if anyone has any advice, I will gladly take it.

So my summer in DC is starting to come to an end as well as my time in DC. It's a very nice city, not as great as others I have lived in but I will miss parts of the city. Hopefully when I'm a successful actor, I can work at some of the theaters here in DC. One day.

Now I have London and Atlanta to look forward to. I have no idea what the future will hold but I'm glad that at least I've got the next year figured out. And I was stressing out at the end of the year for nothing. I want that time back!

Thanks for reading this really long post on everything.

Bye-Bye!