I now have a BME...

So I graduated on Sunday... I guess I should say something about that...

Holy cow, I'm a college graduate!

It's all wonderful, nerve-wracking, crazy, exciting, fear of the unknown, adventurous, how-heck-did-this-happen, how have I survived to this point, what happens next--types of stuff, all at once!

It's all very, very crazy and hard to believe.

Sunday was nice. You couldn't ask for better weather, it was sunny and warm and gorgeous! It wasn't very fun getting up to go to rehearsal at 7:40 am on a Sunday, but meh. It's graduation! Baccalaureate was good, I enjoyed it... We got to sing one of my favorite hymns, Christ Goes Before. :-)

The ceremony itself was nice too. I got to conduct again in a little "pre-concert' before the actual event and the band played really well! Once we made it to the ceremony there was lots of sitting. Which was okay. I'm glad it was inside and not outside, like it used to be, before the W. The speakers were entertaining, if not sometimes long-winded. All the music majors sat in a row and we played telephone throughout the event and someone brought a chocolate bar and was secretly passing pieces out to everyone. :-)

One of my favorite bits what when President Hamm asked to acknowledge the work done by Dr. Mr. Torkelson through his wife, Dr. Mrs.... who evidentially was not there either! Oops! :-)

The music majors got to graduate first, with Leah going first and me being second-to-last. We all managed to follow the ridiculous instructions they had given us at 7:40 in the freaking-morning. (Remember, shake with your right hand first, and then accept your diploma with your left.) They accidentially started to introduce me as "Suma Cum Laude" but no... I was .4 shy of that honor. Oh well. :-)

Here's a picture of all the music majors (including Music Therapy and Bachelors of Music)



















Afterward there was a reception on the campus mall and lots of pictures were taken. :-) Including one in the fountain... Which had been soaped the night before, as per Wartburg prank tradition.

After that it was a mad dash to finish moving out and get to other places.

What a crazy mess.

One of our housemates forgot the slipcover that we had on our couch and there was just tons and tons of food left over in the cupboards and in the fridge. There was even some pots and pans left over. Come one people! Check before you leave!

The four of us (by now it was almost 6pm) divvied up some of the pots and pans and some of the more non-perishable food, but the rest, which was a LOT, had to be thrown away. We ended up just throwing it all into the sofa cover... Lke 3 tubs of ice cream and tons of frozen dinners/frozen veggies, pizza makings, jellies, tubs of butter, 3 gallons of milk, juice, ketchup.... It was such a waste.

After all that was cleaned and taken care of... (Which was highly stressful, and didn't really need to happen, had we as a suite planned better.) The four us is said good-bye. (What a crazy year! Rachel D. was especially hard, but we're going to see each other during the summer, so it's going to be okay.) My family took me out to Red Lobster, which was delicious! Both sets of grandparents came to my graduation, so it was really nice to sit and visit with them. :-) I love Red Lobster's biscuits! Yum!

The drive home was interesting, since I couldn't really see behind me to change lanes--my car was so packed! It was a nice time to just try and digest the whole day, though. Sang along to Dr. Horrible, Songs for a New World and just my Broadway playlist in general. Then I called Luke and wished him a happy post-graduation. :-) It was good to talk to him. (It always is.) Then I called Jessica and was like SURPRISE! I'M PRACTICALLY HOME!

All, in all, it was a good day.

It's nice to be graduated, finally.

FINALLY.

Now I just need a job. And not just a summer job.

A *music* related job.

I've talked to my HS band director and I'm going to help him teach summer lessons for 2 weeks, which will be nice, and I'm going to be mowing someone's lawn for a month or so, and I'm subbing for 2 concerts for the Mason City Municipal band. But other than that, nothing yet.

I've spent the last couple days searching for jobs and trying to figure out different things. I spent a long time today installing a new computer driver on my computer so I can print to my family's printer... Which also means I can scan stuff into my computer now, which is good because a lot of online applications ask for uploaded credential documents.

Yeah.... So I just plugging away. I really want an income so that I might be able to actually go visit Luke....