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| (original via Flickr) |
Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday
Before the week even started, I knew I would be neck deep in tons of writing. I had a short story (over 10 pages!) and a rough draft due for my big senior seminar research paper. On Tuesday, I had a breakthrough in my research on how emerging writers use Twitter to create a career-focused image and essentially, my research took a whole new direction. While what I've found so far is awesome, it definitely put a lot more work on my plate. Even though my fingers had barely left the keyboard over these few days, I did steal a few hours to catch up with some of my favorite people. I'm trying really hard to manage the whole work/life balance, but I certainly felt myself struggling this week. Oh and my outfit inspiration was for the week was Blair Waldorf, check out my outfit of the day!
Thursday
This was the day everything was due, but also a big opportunity. One of my favorite professors in my college's writing department asked me to introduce a speaker who was coming to give a lecture for the humanities series called "Lost and Found." So Thursday afternoon, I drove downtown to go pick up Dr. Matthew Kirschenbaum, Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Maryland and Associate Director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities. When I arrived at his hotel, I spoke with the valet and tried to explain that I would only be inside for a moment to go pick up the speaker for the college. However, he insisted upon parking my car because of hotel policy. By the time I returned to the valet station, the poor valet had just finished parking my car and come down the stairs. His face looked as if I betrayed him! Finally, Dr. Kirschenbaum and I were on our way and he was subjected to my inadequate attempts to make small talk. Evidently, there was a bit of a miscommunication so when we got to the college, I had no where to take Dr. Kirschenbaum, which meant that we sat around for a bit while I tried to entertain him. When we finally got into the lecture room, I didn't have the proper password to set up the PowerPoint so we had to sit around and twiddle our thumbs even longer. I felt so bad, awkward, and completely unprepared. Luckily, Dr. Kirschenbaum was completely ace and very, very kind to me. My introduction for him was a little shaky because I'm a nervous public speaker, but his presentation was truly interesting and I learned so much about the evolution of word processing.
Friday
Another busy day for me! Unfortunately the night before I didn't have much sleep (stress and adrenaline!), meaning I was pretty dead at work and could barely keep my eyelids open without downing a good bit of caffeine. Have you ever had one of those days when you try so hard to stay awake that you forget to do anything, even eat? Yep, today was one of those days. I nearly passed out at work because I had forgotten to eat breakfast or lunch. Thankfully, I recovered and went to my first meeting of the day with the Dean of Academic Affairs to participate in a Shakespeare presentation to mark his 450th birthday on April 23rd. Last semester, I was in a Shakespeare class that looked at appropriations of Shakespeare's works. For my final project, I ended up creating a Tumblr account called Beatrice Presents where I wrote as a modern-day Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing. For the celebration of Shakespeare's birthday, I will be talking about my project at the college's library. Needless to say, I'm truly excited for the opportunity, but again, public speaking terrifies me so this will be another challenge for me!
After this meeting I went to Starbucks ran a few errands and then headed downtown again with one of my best friends, Lauren, for a senior class e-board meeting. There was also an alumni event going on at the same time so I got to talk to a few people and might have some exciting opportunities in the near future! I'll keep you posted. I ordered a drink (Malibu and Coke, yum) and headed to the meeting, which was really productive with a bunch of EXCELLENT ideas being thrown around. I'm really excited for next year!
I ended the night by walking around town and going to Wayne White's art exhibit for First Friday. The exhibit was amazing and I ran into a bunch of people I haven't seen in ages. After I dropped Lauren off, I headed back to the city with my friend, Sean, to go to the local Irish bar for late night happy hour. We had lovely time, but I had to pull a Cinderella and get home by midnight because Saturday was another early morning.
Saturday
Lauren, Sean, and I were together again (#SpartaNation #YCPRoadCrew reunion) for an Alumni Leadership Conference. We had a yummy breakfast and lunch, but since I had to get up early again, I was really struggling to stay awake. Fortunately, I learned a lot about the Alumni Relations department that I'll be working with extensively since I'm on the e-board. I feel so blessed to have all these opportunities coming my way, but by the time I got home, I essentially passed out at 5 p.m. and woke up this morning at 8 a.m.
Right now, I know there's no way that I can keep going at this pace so hopefully this week will be a bit more relaxing. I don't have nearly as much scheduled. Most importantly, I feel that by writing this out, it puts into perspective how busy a twenty-something's life is and makes you feel less alone in the adventure.
