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Katie D.

March 17, 2009 - 9:45 AM

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I hope you're all listening to Irish music and drinking green beer (although not quite at this early hour). I, unfortunately, am about to step into a Spanish final, so the joy of St. Patty's day is yet to enter into my life. Today will be a busy day with essays, studying, and prep for Spring Break. Oh, and maybe some dish washing because I seem to be a bit behind in that department... This evening I will carve out some time for a St. Patrick's celebration, complete with Irish music (traditional and Flogging Molly/Dropkick Murphys style) and green kool-aide (21st birthday pending T-5 days).

Anyway, I thought in the midst of all this finals business I might write up a "coming attractions" blog to let you know what the next few weeks have in store. So here we go...

TONIGHT Dinner at Professor Fracchia's house to celebrate the end of an awesome term. It's a potluck, but the main event is some real Italian food cooked by Fracchia himself.

Thursday, March 19: Departure for Spring Break on the Border! More information on this later, but let me just say that we're facing 22 hours on the road, and then a week without showers. But I'm quite excited about it.

March 22nd MY BIRTHDAY!

March 23-27 Spring break

March 30th First day of Spring Term. New classes, new schedule, and a whole new set of plans. Ten Humphrey Scholars will be arriving at the American English Institute! These are mid-level professionals studying English here before doing research at various US Universities, and I'll be working with them as an Activities Coordinator. I am very, very excited about this!

On a less fun note, my friend Grant will be gone this term, off to do an internship at the Burke museum of archeology in Seattle. I'm really excited for him, but will miss him so much. My friend Nathan will still be studying in Japan, and Maddy will be finishing up studies in Singapore and then heading to Malaysia for an internship. I'm so excited for them all, but miss having my friends here with me in Eugene.

I am really excited about my classes next term. Here's the lineup:

Physics 361: Science and Society

HC Colloquium: Latin American History

Inside-Out class (More on this later, but I will be participating in this class again as part of my thesis project)

Thesis prospectus class

The term is 14 credits this time, and Wednesday is the only day with more than one class. Hopefully this will help me balance out my busy, busy life!

April 2nd My friend Melissa arrives from Colorado to spend the weekend with me!

April 11th My driver's license expires. I guess I'll get to experience the joys of the Eugene DMV.

April 16-19th I go home to Colorado for a visit and to see my little sister, Kelly, as the lead in the high school musical Damn Yankees. I won't be there for her 18th birthday, or for her graduation, but I'll be there for the play and that's what's most important to us both, I think.

May 16th NOMAD Panel discussion for this year's Undead edition! I'll be published in the magazine and be a part of the panel of undergraduate students.

May 21st The Decemberists concert.

 
During this whole time I'll be taking classes, working at the AEI, doing tours at the Honors College, writing blogs, participating in events at the Wesley Center, rock climbing, working on my Undead essay for NOMAD magazine, and beginning work on my thesis. I think it's going to be an amazing spring term, even if it will be busy and absent some of the most important friends in my life. Spring is my favorite season, and I wasn't here to see it last year because I was in Chile. It is so beautiful here right now, with flowers everywhere and more on the way. Hopefully I'll get to spend a lot of time out in the beautiful spring weather, hiking in the Cascades and visiting the coast. I have a really good feeling about spring term, actually: like a little sunshine and two credits less is going to make a wonderful difference in my life. Plus, with all these exciting things coming up I'll have lots to keep me busy and happy.

That's all for now. But look forward to my upcoming blogs about my spring break plans. I'll be returning to the US/Mexico border south of Tucson, Arizona, to volunteer with humanitarian aid organization No More Deaths. Updates coming soon!