mouseandhat Wednesday: 10 best moments of senior year

It’s been a tough week and a half. I am no longer an OU student, I am now an OU graduate. I don’t feel any different, but that’s not so strange. It’s not as if I suddenly changed as a person after the graduation ceremony a few weekends ago; the process took about four years.

To be honest, I kind of wish it weren’t over already. I wish I had more time to hang out with my friends, more time to learn new things. Granted, I can still spend time with friends and hobbies, but now that we have all gone on to our own homes and new jobs (or hopes for new jobs), it’s tougher. I also wonder about those friendships that never fully blossomed, those people whom I would not likely see again.

That said, here’s a rundown of the 10 best moments of senior year. I may be missing some, and others might be a bit of a stretch. Part of the reason some of them were chosen was because I had photo evidence of them occurring. My memory isn’t the best, and I don’t always think to take pictures.

These are not arranged in any particular order, save for a more or less chronological one.

10. Washington, D.C.

In the Summer before the start of senior year, I visited Jeremy during his internship with the Washington Post, along with Devin and Jeremy’s brother Eric. We stuck around for a few days and visited some of the sites. I had a good time, and my experiences on the subway helped me to navigate when I visited again with my family about a month or so later. Posts on the visit can be seen here, here and here.

9. Moving in

I haven’t got any pictures of this event. Still, I vaguely remember the thrill of moving into a new place and etching out an area I could temporarily call home. Once we got through the difficult process of finding places to fit everything, we made a comfortable living space, and it’s tough even now to think that I won’t be seeing it again.

8. Speakeasy

For all the grief and stress I felt helping to make sure Speakeasy, a student-run online newsmagazine, didn’t fall apart, I found some joy in it amid the frustration. In those moments when things came together and we saw what we could achieve as a group, I was impressed. Plus, I got to meet some great people through Speakeasy, and I can only hope I might run into a few of them down the road.

7. Swing dancing

Like Speakeasy, this is not so much a moment as it is a series of moments spanning the whole year. I’m glad Jeremy and Devin got me involved, as I probably would have been too shy to join on my own. Through swing dancing, I got to meet quite a few interesting people, and I also had the chance to learn something new. I posted about swing dancing here.

6. Halloween

Halloween at Athens is always a great time. I may not be much of a drinker, and I don’t care much for parties, but I enjoyed myself at Halloween each year mostly because of the inventiveness of the costumes I saw. I posted about it here.

5. Christmas

Christmas is always great because I get to see many relatives who live far away. This year, my two brothers Ryan and Chris, Ryan’s wife Sarah and his daughter Maggie came up from Charlotte, N.C. or thereabouts. I also got an alto saxophone from my parents, which I was pretty excited about. I had played sax in the jazz band in high school, but I used one of the school’s instruments, so before that, I never had a sax of my own.

4. Ohayocon 2010

I had never been to a con before. One day, on one of the many occasions that I burst into Jeremy’s room to talk about some inane thing, he asked me if I wanted to go to Ohayocon, a week or two away. On a whim, I agreed to go, and the experience was pretty interesting. I’m not sure if I would do it again, but it was nice to spend some time with friends and point out all the weirdos. I posted about it here.

3. Seeing the Protomen

There are few acts I feel it is necessary to see live. I would love to catch a Cirque du Soleil show, for instance. For most artists, though, I wouldn’t mind seeing them live if given the opportunity, but I wouldn’t hate myself for missing the chance. With the Protomen, though, we drove out to Cincinnati the weekend before finals, attending another (and arguably crappier) con, to catch not one but two shows put on by the awesome group. For all the waiting in line with smelly people, even for the stress of cramming for finals the next day, the trip was worth it. I posted about it here.

2. Jake Fest

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not big on drinking or partying, but I had a good time at the party thrown by Jake, one of my housemates during senior year. I got a chance to sit and relax with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. It came at just the right time, toward the end of our final quarter but before finals. I posted more about the event here, along with a video.

1. Graduation

It’s all over. Four years. Like many who came before me, I felt entitled to zone out during my graduation ceremony. It’s no surprise that a good portion of the journalism majors spent much of the time tweeting in their gowns and mortarboards. Still, we got through it all, we got our little green cards that told us our diplomas were in the mail pending a check that we qualified for them, and we headed back to the house to clear out of there in time. It’s been great, Ohio University, and I’m sure I’ll see you again some time.

After I compiled this list, it came as no surprise to me that the general theme seems to be spending time with friends. I was actually tempted to throw in a catchall entry for all the moments I spent just sitting around with others, but that seemed like a bit of a cop-out. I would never do something like that.

Next week’s topic:

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